'Missing in action' Nadine Dorries breaks silence as MPs call for her to step down months after she vowed to quit
Nadine Dorries who has come under fresh pressure to quit as an MP
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Nadine Dorries has broken her silence as MPs call for her to step down almost 11 weeks after she vowed to quit.
The Mid Bedfordshire MP, who remains a loyal disciple to Boris Johnson, announced her resignation with “immediate effect” after not getting a peerage in the former Prime Minister’s honours list.
However, the ex-Culture Secretary has faced mounting pressure to leave the House of Commons over her decision to delay her departure.
Dorries spoke out about the criticism directed against her earlier today, insisting she is “working daily with constituents”.
Nadine Dorries is a fervent supporter of ex-Prime Minister Boris JohnsonPAThe 66-year-old told the News Agents podcast: “Myself and my team of four caseworkers are working daily with constituents.
“I understand that political opponents, such as Labour-run Flitwick Town Council, are choosing the summer and news hungry outlets in the summer recess to be noticed. However, we are just getting on with the work.”
Opposition parties are calling for a by-election in Mid Bedfordshire, which has returned a Tory MP to the Commons in every poll since 1931, and for Rishi Sunak to remove the whip from the former Culture Secretary.
Speaking during a visit to Ampthill, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Rishi Sunak should sack Nadine Dorries today. He should have done it weeks ago.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey visits The Cottage Bakery with Mid Bedfordshire by-election candidate Cllr Emma Holland-Lindsay
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“Nadine is letting down the people of Mid Bedfordshire. She's totally absent. She said she'd resign and she doesn't. People are pretty angry locally.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also told LBC: “She said she would resign with immediate effect. I don’t know what her dictionary definition of immediate effect is, but 10 weeks after the event doesn’t seem to be immediate effect.
“She has got to go, give Mid Bedfordshire an MP who will actually stand up for them, fight for them, because at the moment she is absolutely absent.
“I would say to Rishi Sunak: get a grip of this.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (left) and deputy Labour Party leader Angela Rayner with Labour candidate Alistair Strathern (centre) during a visit to Shefford in the constituency of Mid Bedfordshire
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“This is one of your MPs, do something about it, force the issue and get on with it.”
Shefford Town Council and Flitwick Town Council have also ramped up calls for Dorries to resign.
However, Sunak’s spokesman merely reaffirmed positions taken by other Cabinet Ministers when asked on Monday whether the Prime Minister believed Dorries should step down.
He told reporters: “I think you’ve heard from a number of ministers on this already.
“I don’t think I’ve much to add beyond what we’ve said before.”
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick previously said it was time for the Mid Bedfordshire MP to quit, adding her constituents were not “being properly represented”.
Dorries, who claimed Sunak removed her peerage nomination, previously explained she is delaying her exit from Parliament while she investigates why she was refused a seat in the Lords.
The leading Brexiteer is also preparing to release The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson next month.
Boris Johnson (left) with loyal disciple Nadine Dorries (centre)
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Despite finishing in a distant third in 2019, the Liberal Democrats are the bookies’ favourites to win in Mid Bedfordshire.
Davey’s party is hoping to emulate Blue Wall success in North Shropshire and Tiverton & Honiton by leapfrogging Labour into challenging the Tories.
The Liberal Democrats also snatched once safe Tory seats of Somerton & Frome and Chesham & Amersham.
However, while failing to win Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge & South Ruislip last month, Starmer is hoping to build on Labour’s growing momentum after victories in both Wakefield and Selby & Ainsty.