Nadine Dorries has announced she is stepping down as an MP with immediate effect.
The Conservative politician, who served as culture secretary under Boris Johnson, has served as the Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire for 18 years. She said she is stepping down so "someone younger" can take her place.
Announcing her resignation, the 66-year-old tweeted: “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 someone younger to take the reins.”
READ MORE: Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link
It comes amid speculation over who will be on former PM Mr Johnson's honours list. Ms Dorries is reported to have been struck from the list along with Sir Alok Sharma, president of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.
Reports had suggested that the pair, who were expected to stand down to take peerages, were struck from the list to avoid potentially damaging by-elections. Ms Dorries' announcement comes after she told TalkTV this morning that "the last thing I would want to do would be to cause a by-election in my constituency".
Rishi Sunak had come under pressure from Labour in recent days to stop Mr Johnson from handing honours to a “carousel of cronies”. Reports suggest the list could be published today.
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said that some of the appointments appear “very, very dubious indeed” and accused Mr Sunak of being “too weak” to block them. He told Sky News: “Some of the people on that list, it just looks like a carousel of Boris Johnson’s cronies and frankly the Prime Minister has caved in yet again because there’s warring factions in the Conservative Party."
Speaking to TalkTV ahead of her resignation announcement on Friday, Ms Dorries said she had not heard anything but did not expect to be entering the Lords “any time soon”. She said: “I know nothing. 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.”
Ms Dorries had already announced she would not be standing at the next general election earlier this year. In an interview with the Daily Mail, asked whether she would miss being an MP, she said: “No, it can’t come fast enough. The problem with some MPs is they don’t know when to let go and they can carry on long after they should. Just go. Parliament isn’t a care home.”
The MP won 60 per cent of the vote in the constituency of Mid Bedfordshire 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 of the vote, while the Greens were fourth on 4 per cent.
Ms Dorries 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.
The Johnson loyalist is already the host of a talk show on TalkTV called Friday Night With Nadine and last month joined the Daily Mail as a weekly columnist.
READ NEXT:
