Rishi Sunak has hit back at a claim by Nadine Dorries that a “class ceiling” prevented her from being elevated to the House of Lords, denying that only posh boys should be awarded peerages.
Ms Dorries has claimed she resigned as an MP after being “bullied” by No 10 and accused the prime minister of “duplicitously and cruelly” blocking her from getting a peerage.
The Boris Johnson loyalist sought to divide the row along class lines, branding Mr Sunak and James Forsyth – his political aide – “privileged posh boys” who had stopped her from being offered a seat in the Lords.
“I’m broken-hearted, not just for me but for everyone who comes from a background like mine,” she said.
But, asked if Mr Sunak thinks only posh boys should go to the House of Lords, the prime minister’s official spokesman replied: “No.”
No 10 also refused to be drawn on whether Mr Sunak considered himself a posh boy, referring reporters to previous comments the PM has made on his background.
Mr Sunak has previously suggested he does not have working-class friends.
Describing his friendships in the BBC’s 2007 documentary series Middle Classes - Their Rise and Sprawl, Mr Sunak said: “I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are working-class ... well, not working class.”
Ms Dorries’ salvo against Mr Sunak was the latest in a ferocious row over the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
On Monday Mr Sunak claimed his predecessor asked him to bend the rules over peerages – “something I was not prepared to do”.
But a furious Mr Johnson hit back, saying: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish” – adding that he had asked the PM to make sure the Lords’ authorities “renew their vetting”.
Mr Johnson and his allies blame Downing Street for some of his key Tory allies - including Ms Dorries, Alok Sharma and Nigel Evans - failing to appear on the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.
And Ms Dorries used an interview with TalkTV to launch a fresh attack on the prime minister, claiming he used “weasel words” and “sophistry” in a meeting with Mr Johnson last week which left the former Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP believing she would be included.
Referring to Mr Sunak and Mr Forsyth, she added: “This story is about a girl from Liverpool… who had something that was offered to her… removed by two privileged posh boys.”
Ms Dorries said she was “100%” sure that her former boss had not decided to axe her from the list himself.
Asked to explain her understanding of what had happened, she said the House of Lords appointment commission (Holac) had told No 10 she would need to announce her departure as an MP in order to enter the Lords.
She said she was aware of this rule, but that she had been urged “via back channels” not to prompt a by-election so held off.
A plan was devised by the Cabinet Secretary whereby she would stay on the list until a general election, but “we found out that suddenly that wasn’t allowed”, Ms Dorries claimed.
Detailing the chain of events on Friday, the former minister said she only learned that her name was not on the list half an hour before it was published.
The Chief Whip spoke to her in the morning to say “everything’s fine” before contacting her hours later to reveal she was not included, she said.
