The politician became a household name in 2022, briefly becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in the final months of Boris Johnson\u2019s premiership and going on to hold a senior role in the short-lived Liz Truss government.<\/p>\n
He has returned to the backbenches since January 2023, when he was sacked as Conservative Party chairman<\/a> for breaching the ministerial code by not declaring an HMRC investigation into his tax affairs when appointed by Johnson.<\/p>\n He ultimately paid a seven-figure tax settlement<\/span> while serving as Chancellor, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said wasn\u2019t officially declared<\/a> ahead of his appointment as Conservative Party chairman.<\/p>\n But what is his relevance to the events of Mr Bates vs The Post Office<\/a>? Read on for an overview.<\/p>\n While Nadhim Zahawi\u2019s guest appearance in Mr Bates vs The Post Office seems quite random given most of the show\u2019s other real-life figures are portrayed by actors, it is true that the MP did play a role in examining the scandal.<\/p>\n Zahawi was indeed on a Select Committee in 2015, which considered \u201calleged issues with the Horizon IT system and the mediation scheme set up by the Post Office to address these claims\u201d (see UK Parliament<\/a>).<\/p>\n As depicted in Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Zahawi gave then-CEO Paula Vennells a tough line of questioning, ultimately describing the company\u2019s handling of the unfolding situation as \u201ca shambles\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n The question remains, however, why cast the sitting MP as himself in the drama series, rather than an actor to portray him \u2013 as was the route taken with fellow Tory politician James Arbuthnot (played by Alex Jennings)?<\/p> An ITV spokesperson told RadioTimes.com<\/a>: \u201cIn factual dramas, it is common for real-life figures \u2013 journalists, TV personalities and other public figures \u2013 to play themselves in small roles as a way of adding further authenticity to the series.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have chosen to feature Nadhim Zahawi \u2013 who appears in the context of a Select Committee \u2013 for this reason. The television presenter James Naughtie will also feature in the drama for the same reason.\u201d<\/p>\n RadioTimes.com<\/a> has reached out to production company Little Gem for further elaboration on Zahawi\u2019s casting.<\/p>\n The Mr Bates vs The Post Office cast<\/a> also includes Toby Jones as the titular campaigner, who has fought tirelessly for justice for wrongly convicted subpostmasters, plus Julie Hesmondhalgh, Ian Hart, Lia Williams and Katherine Kelly.<\/p>\n Mr Bates vs The Post Office continues tonight at 9pm on ITV1. Stream all episodes on ITVX. Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/b><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n The surprise appearance is sure to raise eyebrows. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42877,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/why-is-nadhim-zahawi-in-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-cameo-explained-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/why-is-nadhim-zahawi-in-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-cameo-explained-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/why-is-nadhim-zahawi-in-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-cameo-explained-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/why-is-nadhim-zahawi-in-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-cameo-explained-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/why-is-nadhim-zahawi-in-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-cameo-explained-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/why-is-nadhim-zahawi-in-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-cameo-explained-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/why-is-nadhim-zahawi-in-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-cameo-explained-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The surprise appearance is sure to raise eyebrows.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/42876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why is Nadhim Zahawi in Mr Bates vs The Post Office?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"(L-R)](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/mrbatesvsthepostofficeep308-4b88288.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"mr_bates_vs_the_post_office_ep3_08\\"\/")
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