- By Becky Morton
- BBC political reporter
Image supply, Getty Images
Former Conservative minister Nadine Dorries has introduced she is standing down as an MP.
The former tradition secretary and shut ally of Boris Johnson stated she was standing down “with immediate effect” after “something significant” occurred to vary her thoughts.
It means there can be a by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency, the place she has a majority of 24,664.
Ms Dorries had been anticipated to be nominated for an honour, however she was not included on the checklist.
Earlier on Friday, she instructed TalkTV: “The last thing I would want to do is cause a by-election in my constituency.”
“I don’t believe I will be going into the House of Lords any time soon,” she stated, including that she had not been contacted by anyone in No 10 in regards to the honours checklist.
However, after asserting she was standing down, she instructed the channel: “The House of Lords thing was on the cards and it’s gone back to HOLAC [the House of Lords Appointments Commission] to be vetted.”
The advisory physique is chargeable for vetting nominations for peerages.
Asked if she thought she must be within the House of Lords, Ms Dorries stated it was “very rare” for somebody from her background who was born into poverty to get a peerage.
She added that she was “slightly disappointed” however “I don’t think it was to be”.
Ms Dorries stated “something significant did happen to change my mind” about remaining an MP, however she wouldn’t give additional particulars.
She stated she now had “other priorities”, together with her granddaughter and media profession as a presenter on TalkTV and columnist for the Daily Mail.
The former tradition secretary stated she felt “relief”, including: “I think I’ve been carrying a degree of guilt since I stood down as secretary of state. I think I possibly, maybe I should have stood down [as an MP] then.”
The prime minister’s press secretary stated Mr Johnson’s peerage checklist had been handed to HOLAC unaltered “as is convention”, and HOLAC then handed again its authorized checklist.
“He [Rishi Sunak] had no involvement or input into the approved list,” she added.
Nadine Dorries is a detailed ally of Boris Johnson
Born in Liverpool in 1957, Ms Dorries labored as a nurse earlier than turning into an MP in 2005.
She can be a profitable writer of romantic historic novels and hit the headlines in 2012 for participating in ITV actuality present I’m A Celebrity, which led to her suspension from the Conservative parliamentary social gathering for six months.
She was a vocal critic of then-Prime Minister David Cameron and his Chancellor George Osborne, as soon as describing them as “a pair of posh boys who don’t know the price of a pint of milk”.
When Mr Johnson entered Downing Street he made her a well being minister earlier than appointing her as tradition secretary in September 2021.
She left authorities final September when Mr Johnson stepped down as prime minister.
Since then she has been a robust critic of present Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and has hit out at those that sought to oust Mr Johnson.
Announcing that she wouldn’t stand within the common election in February, she criticised “the lack of cohesion, the infighting and occasionally the sheer stupidity from those who think we could remove a sitting prime minister”.
“I’m afraid it’s this behaviour that I now just have to remove myself from,” she added.
