Nadhim Zahawi arrived in the UK as a Kurdish refugee when he was nine years old.
- Nadhim Zahawi came to Britain as a child with his Kurdish family not speaking any English when he was nine years old. Mr Zahawi was born in Baghdad in 1967, according to the BBC. His father was a businessman and his mother, a dentist.
- After arriving in the UK, Mr Zahawi was privately educated, before forging a lucrative business career.
- The 55-year-old co-founded the prominent polling company YouGov and was active in local Conservative politics in London, before becoming an MP in 2010. He won widespread praise for overseeing Britain’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
- Mr Zahawi was previously education secretary. He was replaced as education secretary by Michelle Donelan, previously a junior education minister.
- In 2021, Boris Johnson promoted him to the cabinet to run education policy.