NADHIM Zahawi has been given a post in new prime minister Rishi Sunak’s first cabinet.
The Stratford MP has been appointed minister without portfolio and Conservative Party chairman.
The role includes no specific responsibilities and Mr Zahawi will not head a particular ministry.
Mr Zahawi had supported the return of Boris Johnson to replace Liz Truss before the former prime minster decided not to enter the latest bid to be Conservative Party leader
He quickly then switched his support to Mr Sunak and is now looking forward to his new role.
He tweeted: “It’s a great honour to be appointed chairman of the party I joined as a young man and has meant so much to me.
“I look forward to supporting Rishi Sunak in this role and in the Government as we take on the challenges ahead.”
Mr Zahawi had been Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster during Mrs Truss’ turbulent time in office.
Prior to that he had been Chancellor for a couple of months in the final cabinet of Mr Johnson – following the resignation of Mr Sunak.
Mr Zahawi, a father-of-three, was also previously education secretary, and before that, as the so-called vaccines minister, he spearheaded Britain’s widely-acclaimed roll-out of the coronavirus vaccination programme.
The 55 year-old had put himself forward in the summer as a candidate to succeed Mr Johnson as prime minister but failed to gather enough votes from Conservative Party members.
