The sacking of Nadhim Zahawi was satisfying but there is still a sense of outrage - Andrew Vine

Disgusting, but somehow not surprising against the backdrop of a pattern of behaviour amongst some senior Tories that is deeply repellent to voters who pay what they owe and conduct their lives with honesty.

Zahawi’s sacking after weeks of questions about his financial affairs and tax, especially during his brief period as Chancellor, amounts to much more than just the come-uppance of an arrogant politician who appeared to believe that he could get away with paying less than he owed and attempted to silence those probing his behaviour with threats of legal action.

He has reinforced the impression of a vast gulf yawning between the Government and the people of this country by failing to apologise or show any sign of contrition.

Increasingly, the governing class just does not look or behave like the rest of us. Instead, they come across as a privileged elite who play by their own rules and not according to ordinary standards of decency.

Zahawi’s tax shenanigans, in which he allegedly had to pay £5m, more than £1m of which is a penalty, is a potent illustration of how far removed the Government is from the everyday lives of people whose tax is deducted directly from their wages.

Residents of Yorkshire and the rest of the North, who despair at how to make ends meet and flinch at the ever-increasing cost of their weekly food shop must surely look on with growing anger at the huge amounts of money swilling about amongst politicians who enrich themselves whilst carefully pasting looks of concern onto their faces and supposedly sympathising with the cost-of-living crisis.

As Zahawi’s career was going down the toilet, his old boss, Boris Johnson was allegedly negotiating a loan of £800,000 with the help of the man subsequently approved by him to chair the BBC.

That’s added to the £500,000 the former Prime Minister is reportedly receiving as an advance payment for his memoirs, which will presumably seek to put a positive spin on his effective ejection from office.

Then there is the former health secretary, Matt Hancock, who went on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here for a £300,000 fee, loudly justifying the appearance by saying that he was doing it to raise awareness of issues dear to him and proclaiming he would be donating money to charity. Last week, it turned out he has given just three per cent of his fee to charity.

Nor should we overlook the embarrassment of Rishi Sunak last year when it emerged that his wife enjoyed non-domiciliary tax status that meant she was not paying UK taxes on her substantial overseas earnings, a situation swiftly amended when it came to light.

Money isn’t the only factor in the sense of the Conservatives being out of step with those they govern. Their behaviour widens the gulf, too.

There is yet to be a reckoning over Boris Johnson’s lockdown parties at Downing Street whilst the rest of the country was separated from loved ones.

And then his – and Mr Sunak’s – deputy, Dominic Raab, faces a potential reckoning too, over multiple allegations of bullying staff.

If they turn out to be true, everyone in any workplace will justifiably wonder how he got away with it for so long, because they know perfectly well that if they bullied colleagues, their feet wouldn’t touch the ground. They’d either be formally disciplined or fired.

Do any of these senior figures pause and wonder how this all looks to voters in Yorkshire or the rest of the north who put their faith in the Conservatives for the first time in generations in 2019?

Voters did so because they believed the Conservatives shared their values. Yet now some of the party’s elite appear to believe that they can behave exactly as they wish, rules and standards of common decency being for the little people and not those at the top. It is a narrative that looks increasingly damaging for the Tories.