Nadine Dorries shares 'dangerous' mock-up image of Rishi Sunak stabbing Boris in back
31 July 2022, 17:49 | Updated: 31 July 2022, 23:31
Nadine Dorries has faced a backlash after retweeting a mock-up image showing Rishi Sunak stabbing Boris Johnson in the back.
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The Culture Secretary has been told to "wind her neck in" by fellow Tory ministers after wading in on the leadership contest on behalf of Liz Truss.
She penned a "divisive, disingenuous" column on why she had mocked the former chancellor over his expensive taste in clothing, and for retweeting an image showing Mr Sunak stabbing Boris Johnson in the back with a knife.
The staunch loyalist of Mr Johnson shared an image depicting him as Julius Caesar about to be stabbed by a knife-wielding Mr Sunak, suggesting he had betrayed the Prime Minister when he resigned as chancellor.
Business minister Greg Hands condemned Ms Dorries' actions as "distasteful" and "dangerous" in the wake of the killing of Southend West Tory MP Sir David Amess at a constituency surgery in Essex last October.
"I'm sure Liz Truss would disown this kind of behaviour," he told Sky News.
"I think this is appalling.
"Look, it's not even a year since the stabbing of Sir David Amess at his Southend constituency surgery, so I think this is very, very bad taste, dangerous even."
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Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Ms Dorries said she "may have gone slightly over the top" last week by comparing the millionaire former chancellor's £3,500 suit to Ms Truss's £4.50 earrings from high street chain Claire's.
"I wanted to highlight Rishi's misguided sartorial style in order to alert Tory members not to be taken in by appearances in the way that happened to many of us who served with the chancellor in Cabinet," she wrote.
"The assassin's gleaming smile, his gentle voice and even his diminutive stature had many of us well and truly fooled".
Ms Dorries accused Mr Sunak of travelling "along a path of treachery" and planning a "Tudoresque" coup against the Prime Minister.
Senior Conservative MP Simon Hoare took to Twitter to criticise Ms Dorries.
"Your comments are divisive, disingenuous & disturbing. @trussliz needs to stop this. It's harmful to our Party," he said.
"Remembering, with respect, our fallen colleagues David Amess and Jo Cox. The injured Stephen Timms. I will just leave it there."
