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Nadhim Zahawi is facing a growing backlash after sharing a photograph on X of a homeless person sleeping on the pavement in Mayfair.
The former Tory chairman, who was sacked over an HMRC probe into his tax affairs, posted the picture alongside the caption: “This is now in Mayfair, just walked passed [sic]. what is going on?
“Mayor of London, this can’t be right.”
Mr Zahawi, who stood down as a Conservative MP at the general election, also shared a broken heart emoji alongside the post.
But his decision to share the picture sparked a backlash on the social media platform, with users pointing out that rough sleeping rose significantly after the Conservatives came to power in 2010.
The estimated number of people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn rose from 1,768 in 2010 to 3,896 under the Tories in 2023, government figures show.
On social media, commentators criticised Mr Zahawi’s record in parliament, including having voted against free school meals and having been embroiled in the MPs expenses scandal in 2009.
Mr Zahawi said he was “mortified” when it emerged taxpayers were footing the bill to heat the stables at his country estate. Children’s author Michael Rosen responded to the picture, saying: “Some people could use their stables?”
European Movement UK chairman Mike Galsworthy said: “Very glad you helped him, rather than just taking a photo without permission, walking ‘passed’, and declaring it’s someone else’s problem.
“People like you are the glue of our society.”
Meanwhile economist Danny Blanchflower dubbed Mr Zahawi a clown, adding: “You obviously need to learn how to spell past.” And Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden saracastically replied to Mr Zahawi adding “surely not Mayfair I mean, what a nerve”. “How deeply upsetting for the wealthy residents... surely they could go and be homeless somewhere else (sarcasm emoji,” she added. Ms Meaden said: “Just out of interest, did you help them?”
Housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa said: “It isn’t right… your Government committed to ending rough sleeping by 2024.
“In February 2024 the number of people rough sleeping was 120 per cent higher than in 2010.”
Responding to critics, Mr Zahawi said he only mentioned that the person in the picture was in Mayfair “so that local help can get to the man”. “I could have been walking through Victoria and I would have referenced a similar tragic scene,” he added.
Mr Zahawi’s withdrawal from politics came a year after he was sacked by Rishi Sunak after an ethics probe found serious breaches of the ministerial code over his tax affairs.
The investigation was sparked by The Independent’s revelation of an HMRC investigation into the MP over his tax affairs. Mr Zahawi tried to stop this publication exposing the investigation by threatening to sue if we published.
At the time, the then chancellor repeatedly said he had paid all due taxes and would “one hundred per cent take legal action” if we reported that he had been investigated.
However, The Independent ignored his threats and published two reports, detailing how Mr Zahawi had faced inquiries from the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency and HMRC.
Mr Zahawi did not sue and reportedly paid a penalty of more than £1m to HMRC in a settlement thought to be worth almost £5m in total.
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