Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries announces she is to quit as an MP

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries is to quit as an MP with immediate effect, she announced today.

The ex-Tory minister, a close ally of Boris Johnson, has represented the longstanding Tory seat of Mid-Bedfordshire since 2005.

She had been linked with a seat in the House of Lords in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list but her appointment is believed to have been blocked by officials.

Downing Street denied blocking the appointments, but there was fury among supporters of Mr Johnson.

In a reference to Mrs Dorries upbringing, one said: ‘The posh Oxbridge boys in No 10 and the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) have made sure a girl born on one of the poorest streets in Liverpool did not get to the House of Lords.’

One Whitehall source said Holac, which vets the appointment of peers, was concerned about the precedent that would be set by allowing MPs to join the Lords mid-term.

But an ally of Mr Johnson said: ‘This is Rishi’s revenge. It’s war now.’

Ms Dorries, 66, who was also a health minister under Mr Johnson, this afternoon tweeted: ‘I have today informed the chief whip that I am standing down as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, with immediate effect.

The ex-Tory minister, a close ally of Boris Johnson , has represented the ultra-safe Tory seat of Mid-Bedfordshire since 2005.

Ms Dorries, who has been an MP since 2005, has been a vocal critic of Mr Sunak’s Government since he entered No 10 and is set to release a book on the downfall of former prime minister Mr Johnson.

‘It has been an honour to serve as the MP for such a wonderful constituency but it is now time for someone younger to take the reins.’

It means there will be a by-election in the seat, which she won with a majority of 24,664 in 2019. 

However, polling suggests that even with a massive Tory majority, the seat could be vulnerable to tactical voting by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Ms Dorries, who is also a columnist for the Daily Mail, won 60 per cent of the vote at the 2019 general election, well ahead of Labour in second place on 22 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats came third on 13 per cent, while the Greens were fourth on 4 per cent.

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She increased her majority in Mid Bedfordshire from 20,983 in 2017 to 24,664 in 2019, with a swing of 2.4 per cent from Labour to the Conservatives.

A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said: ‘This is a rural seat in the heart of the Blue Wall, we are in it to win it.’

The Times earlier reported Ms Dorries, as well as Sir Alok Sharma – president of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, were struck from Mr Johnson’s trimmed-down honours list to avoid potentially damaging by-elections as they would have stood down to take the peerages. 

Tory high command is said to have feared the prospect of a difficult double-by-election if Mrs Dorries and Sir Alok were allowed to go to the Lords.

Officials are said to have insisted that their names were ‘re-submitted’ to the House of Lords appointments watchdog to delay the move.

A controversial plan to give Mr Johnson’s father Stanley a knighthood has also been blocked.

A government source flatly denied that Mr Sunak had vetoed names on Mr Johnson’s list.

The source said the PM had rubber-stamped the list once it had been through the Holac vetting process.

‘He passed on the list to the Palace without making a single change,’ the source said.

Hours before her dramatic announcement, Ms Dorries told TalkTV that ‘the last thing I would want to do would be to cause a by-election’ in her seat.

Speaking to the broadcaster, where she hosts a talk show, on Friday morning, Ms Dorries said she had not heard anything but did not expect to be entering the Lords ‘any time soon’.

‘I know nothing,’ she said.

‘There is a process and the last thing I would want to do would be to cause a by-election in my constituency.

‘I don’t believe I will be going into the House of Lords any time soon.’

Her next TalkTV show is due to air later on Friday.

The prospects of such an electoral test would be more challenging for the Prime Minister in Sir Alok’s marginal Reading West constituency, where he has a 4,000-vote majority over Labour.

Ms Dorries, who has been an MP since 2005, has been a vocal critic of Mr Sunak’s Government since he entered No 10 and is set to release a book on the downfall of former prime minister Mr Johnson.