Nadine Dorries’s fed-up constituents send her angry letter demanding she quits
Nadine Dorries has been urged to quit as an MP and allow a by-election by a town council who criticised her for her “political manoeuvres”.
The former culture secretary announced her intention to quit as an MP last month after she failed to receive a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.
However, she is still yet to formally resign and now Flitwick Town Council has called on Dorries “to immediately vacate" her seat amid “concerns and frustration” about her focus on her TV work, book, and embarrassing the government.
In a strongly worded letter, the councillors said: “The last time you spoke in the Commons was 7 June 2022.
Flitwick Town Council call for MP Nadine Dorries to step down.#Flitwick#Bedfordshirepic.twitter.com/enG5AGF8PC
— FTC News (@NewsFTC) July 26, 2023
“You have not maintained a constituency office for a considerable time, and it’s widely understood that you have not held a surgery in Flitwick since March 2020.
“Rather than representing constituents, the council is concerned that your focus appears to have been firmly on your television show, upcoming book and political manoeuvres to embarrass the Government for not appointing you to the House of Lords.
“Councillors noted that your behaviour widely reported in the press is not in line with the Seven Principles of Public Life set out by Lord Nolan in 1995.”
They noted that the residents of Flitwick, which with a population of around 13,800 represents the largest concentration of voters in the constituency, “desperately need effective representation now”.
“Flitwick Town Council calls on you to immediately vacate your seat to allow a by-election.”
I have today informed the chief whip that I am standing down as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, with immediate effect.
It has been an honour to serve as the MP for such a wonderful constituency but it is now time for another to take the reins.— Rt Hon Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) June 9, 2023
Dorries announced her exit from Westminster on 9 June, but a week later said she would stay on while she investigated why she was denied a seat in the House of Lords as part of the former prime minister’s honours list.
The staunch ally of Johnson hosts a weekly chat show on TalkTV and has written a book titled The Plot: The Political Assassination Of Boris Johnson, due to be published days before the Conservative Party conference in September.
Mid Bedfordshire has been held by Dorries since 2005 and the Conservative Party generally since 1931.
A spokesperson for Flitwick Town Council told Yahoo News UK that they were “non-political” and had no further comment to add other than what is stated in the letter to Dorries.
Yahoo News UK has contacted Dorries for a comment.
Watch: Labour demands Nadine Dorries 'properly investigated' over peerage message