Rishi Sunak has finally sacked Nadhim Zahawi after the Conservative party chairman was found to have made a "serious breach" of the ministerial code.
The top Tory has faced weeks of questions after it was revealed he had settled a multi-million pound tax dispute with HMRC while he was serving as Chancellor last summer.
Sunak was forced to launch an investigation into Zahawi's financial affairs last week following reports he had paid a penalty as part of an estimated £4.8 million settlement dispute with the authorities.
In a letter to Zahawi today, the Prime Minister said it was "clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code".
But opposition parties said the length of time it took Sunak to sack the party chairman "raises big questions" over his judgment.
And the SNP insisted the Prime Minister "still has questions to answer" over what he knew about Zahawi's tax affairs.
Sunak's letter added: "Following new information which came to light in recent days regarding your personal financial arrangements and declarations, I asked Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministers' interests, to fully investigate this matter. You agreed and undertook to co-operate fully with the inquiry.
"Following the completion of the independent adviser's investigation - the findings of which he has shared with us both - it is clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code. As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty's Government."
SNP MP Kirsty Blackman said: "Nadhim Zahawi should have been sacked well before now, but it has only been Rishi Sunak's dithering and indecision that has kept him in post.
"The Prime Minister shouldn't have needed an ethics advisor to tell him that a sitting Chancellor should not be in a tax dispute about millions of pounds of unpaid taxes.
"Sunak still has questions to answer over this whole affair about what he knew about the settlement and what advice he received about Zahawi's tax on his appointment.
"The UK Government is riddled with sleaze and scandal and the only way Scotland can escape is by becoming an independent country."
Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said that the Prime Minister should have sacked Nadhim Zahawi before now.
"Nadhim Zahawi failed to pay the taxes he owed in this country and tried to silence those who spoke out about it.
"Despite the writing on the wall, the Prime Minister showed himself to be too weak to act. Rishi Sunak should have sacked Nadhim Zahawi a long time ago, just as he should have acted over Dominic Raab and Suella Braverman, but in his weakness he promoted them."
The chairman of the Scottish Conservatives insisted Sunak made "the right decision" by sacking Zahawi.
MSP Craig Hoy said: "It was only right and proper that he asked Sir Laurie Magnus, his ethics adviser, to look into this issue, and so Laurie has come back and swiftly concluded that Nadhim has broken the Ministerial Code and the Prime Minister has then acted decisively in removing Mr Zahawi from office.
“I think the Prime Minister has done the right thing really."
The Scottish Greens said Zahawi’s dismissal “raises big questions” over the Prime Minister’s judgment.
The party’s economy spokeswoman, Maggie Chapman, said: "It is good that Zahawi has gone, but this isn’t just about him.
"It’s also about the judgment of the Prime Minister, who clearly has serious questions to answer over this whole affair.
"What did he know, when did he know it, and why has he dithered so long when it was clear Nadhim Zahawi had broken the Ministerial Code and the trust placed in him?"
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