'Whipping up a public frenzy': Nadine Dorries resigns 'with immediate effect' in scathing attack on PM
26 August 2023, 18:11 | Updated: 26 August 2023, 23:53
Tory MP Nadine Dorries has resigned her Commons seat more than two months after promising to step down, accusing the Prime Minister of "whipping up a public frenzy" that could endanger her life.
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It follows mounting pressure on the Conservative MP for Mid-Bedfordshire and PM Rishi Sunak after Dorries pledged to step down some 78 days ago.
In a blistering resignation letter, Dorries said that she would be resigning with "immediate effect", telling the PM "history will not judge you kindly".
The Tory MP accused Sunak of "demeaning his office by opening the gates to whip up a public frenzy" against her.
It follows the news that police officers visited her home of the former culture secretary last week over threats to her personal security.
As part of the lengthy resignation letter, Dorries added she had "declined to take" the PM's call and that Sunak had "squandered the good will of the nation".
Recent weeks have seen her constituents up in arms, noting the MP hadn't been seen in the constituency for a considerable length of time following her pledge to quit.
Ms Dorries, whose salary as an MP currently stands at £86,584, had neither been seen nor spoken in the Commons since June 2022.
Dorries pledged to step down with "immediate effect" on 9 June after she failed to get a peerage as part of former PM Boris Johnson's resignation honours list.
This is not the first time Dorries has positioned the PM in her cross-hairs, pointing fingers after being passed up for the June peerage, saying she was "bullied" by No 10.
In her letter, sent to the PM on Saturday, Dorries said: "It has been the greatest honour and privilege of my life to have served the good people of Mid Bedfordshire as their MP for 18 years and I count myself blessed to have worked in Westminster for almost a quarter of a century.
Read more: Desperately Seeking Dorries: My quest to find the local MP for Mid Bedfordshire, by Henry Riley
"Despite what some in the media and you yourself have implied, my team of caseworkers and I have continued to work for my constituents faithfully and diligently to this day...
"You have no mandate from the people and the government is adrift. You have squandered the goodwill of the nation, for what?"
She continued: "It is a fact that there is no affection for [Labour leader] Keir Starmer out on the doorstep. He does not have the winning X factor qualities of a Thatcher, Blair or a Boris Johnson, and sadly, prime minister, neither do you."
The sharply worded resignation added that the PM had abandoned "the fundamental principles of Conservatism", adding that "history will not judge you kindly".
She also declared that "the country is run by a zombie Parliament", adding: "nothing meaningful has happened".
Following Dorries letter, a Conservative Party spokesman said the party has already "selected a candidate and are ready for the by-election campaign".
It follows Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey's visit to the Mid Bedfordshire by-election candidate Cllr Emma Holland-Lindsay, his third visit to Nadine Dorries' constituency since she announced she would resign.
