Talk:Nadhim Zahawi

Musical tie & parking ticket.
Do these items tell us any more about Zahawi? Are they worth including? JRPG (talk) 14:43, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
 * I think they are amusing, and add colour to the biography. Gareth E Kegg (talk) 22:00, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Fair enough! JRPG (talk) 22:10, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
 * I can't wait to see what happens next! :) Gareth E Kegg (talk) 23:27, 22 November 2013 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100426105917/http://www.zahawi.com/page.php?page=about to http://www.zahawi.com/page.php?page=about
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20151114023623/http://blogs.new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/nadhim-zahawi-climbs-the-greasy-pole-with-20000-a-month-oil-gig/ to http://blogs.new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/nadhim-zahawi-climbs-the-greasy-pole-with-20000-a-month-oil-gig/

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Joint office?
, I'm not sure that the roles at the BEIS and at the DHSC can be accurately described as being one joint office. They seem to be quite distinct roles; perhaps a little similar to Liz Truss's roles as Secretary of State for International Trade and as Minister for Women and Equalities.

I also noticed that you added a responsibility to Zahawi as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the 'Life Sciences'. Do you have a source for that? I don't see any mention of it in the announcement, nor his profile on GOV.UK.

Sdrqaz (talk) 18:16, 28 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree. There are other ministers with more than one role and they seem to be listed separately in the infobox. With the current status it looks like he's had the Vaccine Deployment role for some time, rather than just from today, which could be misleading. I think we should separate them. This is Paul (talk) 18:33, 28 November 2020 (UTC)


 * , I couldn't agree more. For example, Boris Johnson is both Prime Minister and Leader of the Tories, but they are not joint offices. An example of a joint office would be Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, or Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. I'll remove the reference to 'Life Sciences' since it's unsourced, but I'll hold off splitting the offices until replies or sufficient time has passed.
 * Sdrqaz (talk) 19:18, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

, Sdrqaz, apologies for the delay. Agree entirely, as the role has been fleshed out more on the relevant Govt department sites it appears to be a distinct role with distinct responsibilities. Think the analogy of PM/Leader of Party is fair as opposed to Lord Chancellor/Justice Sec. Member1494 (talk) 09:30, 4 January 2021 (UTC)


 * , not a problem! Sdrqaz (talk) 13:00, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

Muslim?
Isn't this man a Muslim? Is there any reason why this isn't mentioned anywhere??
 * This is Wikipedia, he would have to be Jewish and then it would be mentioned everywhere. Not one word of it, and it is a trend across wikiepdia to downplay Islamic heritage--Hausa warrior (talk) 08:57, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * That's an offensive comment, you also need a source for it.PrisonerB (talk) 09:05, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Almost tempted to go to WP:ANI about this comment as it's debatably anti-Semitic (not to mention conspiratorial - probably not a coincidence). — Czello 11:41, 21 July 2022 (UTC)

Should we describe him as 'a Kurd'?
I want to discuss your revert of my recent edit. My edit made this change:


 * In 1991, Zahawi and fellow Kurd Broosk Saib, who is also of Iraqi Kurdish parentage, were aides to Jeffrey Archer during Archer's controversial "Simple Truth" campaign to help Kurdish victims of the Gulf War.

My edit summary was "we do not describe him as a Kurd", and your summary on reverting was "Who is "we"? Unnecessary and unsourced edit."

By "we" I meant the editors of this article, and I was referring to the lead paragraph of this article. Until recently this described him as "a British-Kurdish politician", and this was recently changed to "a British politician", which I support based on MOS:ETHNICITY. We do not and should not describe Sahawi simply as 'a Kurd', he is a British man of Kurdish parentage and ethnicity. You are correct that I did not add a source for Broosk Saib's parentage, I assumed that it was implied by the existing description of him as a Kurd, and that this was based on the offline source cited at the end of the sentence. I now offer a Guardian article which quotes Saib as saying "I've always said I'm a British Kurd. I was born in Baghdad, but we moved to the UK when I was 13.", indicating that his background is similar to Zahawi's.

MOS:ETHNICITY only discusses the opening paragraph, but it is reasonable to extend it to our initial description of other people. We should not describe Rishi Sunak as 'an Indian' or Priti Patel as 'a Ugandan-Indian', based on their parentage or ethnicity. We should not describe Barack Obama as 'an African'. So we should not describe Zahawi and Saib simply as 'Kurds'. Verbcatcher (talk) 15:30, 30 September 2021 (UTC)


 * Hi thanks for the ping. I found your edit to be unnecessarily convoluting. Your source even states Broosk Saib is a British-Kurd. Regarding Zahawi himself; please see this source "I have many, many friends here in Kurdistan and of course I will never deny my heritage and my ancestry" - Zahawi, so both have stated their families are Kurdish (which makes them Kurds too) along with both confirming they are British Kurds, so regarding the sentence, it's completely fair to say fellow Kurd and anything else is simply omitting information for the reader. I have added your source and also clarified they are British-Kurds to be most accurate to the sources. They're not being described as just Kurds, but British Kurds.
 * Your reference to MOS:ETHNICITY is a guideline on the lead, not on anywhere else. Your belief that it is reasonable to extend it means you can practically allow yourself to erase all traces of their ethnicity. Please have a look at this guideline EGRS. In fact Kurds are a nation of people and so far I have issue with Kurds being strictly referred to as an ethnicity. I wanted to revert that edit, but once consensus is properly reached on that I will hold out from reverting. --TataofTata (talk) 16:03, 30 September 2021 (UTC)


 * Ethnicity, race and the distinction between a nation and a nation state are sensitive areas. The Kurds are described as an ethnic group in Kurds and in List of contemporary ethnic groups. I do want to 'erase all traces of their ethnicity', my concern was to not inappropriately label Saib in our passing mention of him. I am content with the current text, although I prefer mine. The Hyphenated ethnicity article indicates that we should drop the hyphen to give 'British Kurd' (as in The Guardian). The convention with Hyphenated Americans is to put the newer identity second, but 'Kurdish Briton' is awkward. Verbcatcher (talk) 16:55, 30 September 2021 (UTC)


 * Please see Kurdistan, not only are Kurds an ethnic group, they are also a nation or technically a nation without a state (country)(info & also this book (if you require an academic source to start from))). It's indeed also a sensitive area for Kurds as they oftentimes have been misrepresented so hence kind of the opposite of the spectrum. Hyphenated ethnicity isn't a wikipedia policy or guideline and even though I actually agree with it in the sense of how people are described in America, but not everything can or should be painted with the same brush, so to speak. Nothing wrong with a Brit being a British-Kurd or if you feel it's better, Kurdish Brit, but in this case I think Zahawi represents the British state and his origins are Kurdish so British being at the forefront is more appropriate. --TataofTata (talk) 18:40, 30 September 2021 (UTC)


 * I am not questioning whether the Kurds are a nation. There are several nations without a co-terminal nation state, including the Basque Country, the Navajo Nation and Wales. Verbcatcher (talk) 19:02, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

Edit request
An article in The Independent also drew attention to the large number of legitimate items on Zahawi's expenses.[59]

I think this sentence should be removed because it inaccurately depicts the content of The Independent article. The article doesn't try to defend Zahawi and actually discusses the number of "petty items", not legitimate items. If this sentence is necessary, then another reference should be found. 2A02:C7C:646F:A100:CCAD:8764:B527:F287 (talk) 06:54, 11 July 2022 (UTC)

2022 leadership election
The article states; " After Truss resigned in October 2022, Zahawi supported Sunak's bid to become Conservative leader." But, in fact, Zahawi backed Johnson in that contest ab initio. I think that is more relevant than where he ended up after Johnson withdrew. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 51.186.72.86 (talk) 12:10, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

Personal Life
His own website notes that he has three children, but his Wikipedia entry omits this. It's quite common to have a politicians number of children listed on their entry. At the time of writing, IP editors cannot make edits, but the the source (his official website) is here is here if anyone wants to add it: https://www.zahawi.com/about-nadhim — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.90.71.139 (talk) 20:27, 26 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Sorted it. 146.90.71.139 (talk) 22:33, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

Sections need sorting
Needs some sorting between "Tax and Financial Affairs" and "Breaches of Ministerial Code". S C Cheese (talk) 15:10, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Now OK. S C Cheese (talk) 13:21, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

"Profession"
The infobox gives his profession as "chemical engineer". He appears to have a BsC in chemical engineering, but I do not think this makes it his profession. Imaginatorium (talk) 05:31, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

Loan to Zahawi's wife "
I wrote "Zahawi is under pressure to explain the source of roughly £30m unsecured loans to his wife’s UK property company. Nearly £30m unsecured loans were given to a company called Zahawi & Zahawi, which has commercial and retail premises in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Walton-on-Thames in Surrey among others.  Dan Neidle, tax lawyer said he found the large unsecured loans incredible and he was concerned that we do not know who gave the loans.  Labour's  Prem Sikka, emeritus accounting professor at Essex University and Sheffield University stated “There has been no explanation in the accounts of who provided these loans. Given the concern over Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs we now need further clarity. The ethics adviser should be looking at these matters too.”   It's here.

The source says "Nadhim Zahawi, the beleaguered former chancellor and current chair of the Conservative party, is under pressure to reveal the source of about £30m of unsecured loans made to his wife’s UK property company. (...) Accounts show just under £30m has been provided as unsecured loans to a company called Zahawi & Zahawi, which has paid £60m for a property portfolio that includes commercial and retail premises in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. (...) Dan Neidle, a tax lawyer and founder of Tax Policy Associates whose work initially raised awareness of the Zahawi family finances, said: “The fact that an MP’s family can receive £30m of unsecured loans I find incredible. Those loans could be from Elvis for all we know. But it is a fact that a person or persons unknown has loaned the Zahawi family £30m and we don’t get to know who.” Prem Sikka, a Labour member of the House of Lords and an emeritus professor of accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, added: “There has been no explanation in the accounts of who provided these loans. Given the concern over Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs we now need further clarity. The ethics adviser should be looking at these matters too.”" https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/26/nadhim-zahawi-faces-questions-over-source-of-30m-unsecured-loans-to-wifes-property-company

It's sourced and I'm putting it back. Proxima Centauri (talk) 11:39, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

Ends of periods in office
The sections on Chancellor and Chair of Party would be better if they included the end of of the term in office. This is already in the leading section with details but at the moment they are misleading... they include appointment but not dismissal. I've added these but they have been reverted. S C Cheese (talk) 13:24, 4 February 2023 (UTC)