Former Cabinet Minister Nadhim Zahawi to play himself in a major new Post Office TV drama
- Nadhim Zahawi has signed up for four-part series Mr Bates vs The Post Office
- The major new television drama will tell the story of the Post Office IT scandal
Former Cabinet Minister Nadhim Zahawi has landed a new role playing himself in a major new television drama.
Mr Zahawi, 56, has signed up for four-part series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which will tell the story of the Post Office IT scandal that devastated the lives of hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses.
The decision to cast the former Chancellor, who is still a sitting Tory MP, as himself has raised eyebrows on the drama’s set.
One actor, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ‘The idea of Nadhim Zahawi playing himself has left a lot of actors up in arms. To make matters worse he cannot remember a line of his own words!’
Mr Zahawi was sacked as Chairman of the Conservative Party after an investigation found he had breached the ministerial code by failing to declare an HMRC investigation into his tax affairs.
Mr Zahawi, 56, has signed up for four-part series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which will tell the story of the Post Office IT scandal
The ITV series, written by acclaimed dramatist Gwyneth Hughes, will tell how hundreds of innocent Post Office employees had to battle to clear their name after they were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting because of a defective IT system called Horizon.
The drama will also star Toby Jones, the star of the TV series The Detectorists, W1A actress Monica Dolan and Line Of Duty actor Will Mellor.
A spokesman for ITV said: ‘In factual dramas it is common for real-life figures – journalists, TV personalities and other public figures – to play themselves in small roles as a way of adding further authenticity to the series.
‘We have chosen to feature Nadhim Zahawi for this reason.’
Mr Zahawi did not respond to requests to comment.
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