Boris Johnson super-fan Nadine Dorries will publish a book settling scores over his downfall just three days before the Tories’ annual conference. The former Culture Secretary - who was named in a bombshell report for trying to undermine Parliament’s Partygate probe - continues to maintain the ex-PM was wrongly removed. She claims the “darkest political arts” run through the Tory Party. Her book, named The Plot, is described as a “story of treachery and deceit” by publisher HarperCollins. She claims to have discovered a “fault line” and a “history of deception” within the party as she takes aim at those she blames for Mr Johnson’s removal.
it is likely to make uncomfortable reading for Mr Sunak, who Ms Dorries has repeatedly lambasted since her mentor’s departure from No10. According to a statement released this morning, the book will tell how the “most charismatic politician of his generation” was “driven from office” and is supposedly based on the testimony of “dozens of inside sources”.
A statement by the publisher says: “This is a story of treachery and deceit at the heart of the Westminster machine fuelled by an obsessive pursuit of power which tears at the very fabric of our democracy.”
Ms Dorries said: “When I started this book I had no idea of the journey I was embarking on. But the more people I spoke to in the heart of Westminster, the deeper the story unfolded. I had wanted to discover the forces behind the downfall of the Prime Minister. Instead, I found a fault line within the Conservative Party stretching back decades and a history of deception fuelled by the darkest political arts. If you thought power flowed from the people into Parliament, be prepared to think again.”
It will be released on September 28.
So that’s what “Mad Nads” has been doing while not representing her constituency and not speaking in the Commons …
No doubt there will be a multiplicity of paid interviews for Nads and a huge fee for the rights to a drama series based on the book …
She seems to be developing a theory that dark forces were the cause of Johnson deciding that once again he decided that he’d blag and lie his way out of the partying accusations. I wonder how that works?
Nadine Dorries has been referred to the Conservative chief whip by the UK’s top civil servant over claims she sent “forceful” messages to officials.
Chief whips oversee discipline in political parties, while the Speaker presides over the House of Commons.
Tory MP and public administration committee chairman William Wragg, a frequent critic of Mr Johnson, asked Cabinet Secretary Mr Case if he was aware of “any rather forceful communications” sent by Ms Dorries “to senior civil servants”.Mr Wragg suggested Ms Dorries had threatened to use “the platform of the Commons and indeed her own television programme to get to the bottom of why she hadn’t been given a peerage”.
Mr Case said: “Yes, I was aware of those communications and have flagged them to both the chief whip and Speaker of the House.”
Blimey … Nads is certainly mad about her missing peerage - she must be desperate to be Lady Muck …
I think we are about to pinpoint the absolute definition of “unwarranted self-entitlement”. Thanks Nadine for that useful contribution to our understanding of the finer nuances the English language.
A town council has urged former government minister Nadine Dorries to resign as an MP immediately over what they described as her “continuing lack of representation” for constituents. Flitwick Town Council in Mid Bedfordshire said there were “concerns” about her focus on TV work.
In a strongly worded letter, the councillors said: “The last time you spoke in the Commons was 7 June 2022. 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.”
The letter said Flitwick, that with a population of about 13,800 was 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,” it added.
Quite right … Dorries is taking tax-payers money and doing nothing to earn it …
Dorries is yet another grifter - there’s been a lot of them coming out of the political woodwork in recent years - unfortunately we, the taxpayers, are her employers yet it seems we cannot sack her or stop her salary even though she hasn’t been turning up for work for a year - she shouldn’t be able to get away with skiving off work to go moonlighting.
Do we have to wait until there’s general election to force her out if she won’t stand down before then?
She’s taking the mickey now.
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries is facing a move to force her out of Parliament if she fails to attend for six months. The proposals have been put forward by senior Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant.
Under his proposals, first reported by the Financial Times, Sir Chris said a motion could be tabled in Parliament requiring an MP to attend Parliament on a certain date. If they failed to do so he said this could be considered a “contempt of Parliament”, which can be punished with a suspension from the Commons. If MPs approve a suspension of 10 days or more this can trigger a by-election in the constituency, where voters have the chance to oust their local MP.
Sir Chris, who chairs the Commons standards committee, said the move had basis in a parliamentary rule from 1801 stating that “no member do presume to go out of town without leave of this House”. He told the BBC he wanted to see MPs held to the same standards as councillors, who automatically cease to be a councillor, triggering a by-election, if they fail to attend any meetings for six months without good reason.
“I just think this is bringing the whole system into disrepute,” he said. “Why should you be allowed to draw a salary and claim expenses for your staff and all that kind of stuff if you’re not actually doing the job of turning up?”
Asked if he would table a motion to oust Ms Dorries when Parliament returns in the autumn, Sir Chris said: “Maybe she’ll turn up on the first day back in September and take part in debates and so on. Or maybe she’ll resign… Let’s see what happens.”
John Glen, chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News that the former culture secretary needed to formally announce her resignation so her constituents could be properly represented. Dorries said she was going to resign nine weeks ago after failing to secure a peerage in Boris Johnson’s honours list in June.
Glen told Times Radio that people were “bewildered” by her actions. He told Sky News: “I’m a bit bemused. She said that she was going to resign immediately, she hasn’t done so, and I understand the frustration of her constituents. If they can’t get access to her, then they’re going to be very disappointed in that.
“She needs to get on with it and she needs to make that decision real by announcing her resignation formally.”
Mr Stephenson has been the association’s chair for two-and-a-half years and said his relationship with Ms Dorries was “very cordial” and “very much a two-way relationship”. He told the BBC they last met in person at a memorial for Queen Elizabeth II in Flitwick last year (1), but spoke regularly on the phone and via WhatsApp.
However, as a constituent too, he admitted to being “frustrated”, as others in Mid Beds became increasingly vocal about the situation. Mr Stephenson said he had seen the banners and said: “It’s embarrassing it’s come to this, but these are legitimate protests.”
He told the BBC none of his recent communication with Ms Dorries suggested she had changed her mind, but he was not expecting a formal announcement this month.
(1) So, even local Tory supporters haven’t seen Mad Nads for a year …
A second council has urged Nadine Dorries to immediately step down as Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire, saying she had “abandoned the local area”.
Shefford Town Council has written to Ms Dorries accusing her of having “scant interest” in her constituency.
“Nine weeks have now passed and you have not resigned,” said Shefford Town Council in a letter, which it has also published on X (formerly Twitter). The letter, signed by Shefford mayor Ken Pollard, raised the “town’s concerns and frustration” at the “continuing lack of representation for the people of Mid Bedfordshire”.
It also accused Ms Dorries of an “aversion to attending local events or services” and acting “in direct violation of the seven principles of public life” - a series of rules established after the Nolan Committee’s inquiry into standards that should be upheld by any public office-holder.
Scant, lack, aversion, violation - harsh words … but fair …
Nadine Dorries has resigned her Commons seat, two months after promising to quit “with immediate effect”.
She launched a blistering attack on Rishi Sunak in her resignation statement, saying “history will not judge you kindly”. She accused the prime minister of abandoning “the fundamental principles of Conservatism”.
She said she had submitted her resignation letter to the prime minister, and published the eviscerating text on the Daily Mail’s subscription service Mail+.
In her resignation letter, the Tory MP accused Rishi Sunak of “demeaning his office by opening the gates to whip up a public frenzy” against her. Ms Dorries also accused Mr Sunak of leading attacks on her resulting in “the police having to visit my home and contact me on a number of occasions due to threats to my person”.
“The clearly orchestrated and almost daily personal attacks demonstrates the pitifully low level your government has descended to,” she wrote.
Attacking the prime minster’s record, she added: “Since you took office a year ago, the country is run by a zombie parliament where nothing meaningful has happened. Bewildered, we look in vain for the grand political vision for the people of this great country to hold on to, that would make all this disruption and subsequent inertia worthwhile, and we find absolutely nothing.”
Nadine Dorries’ book about Boris Johnson’s downfall will be delayed, publisher HarperCollins has said. The “small delay” is due to “the required legal process needed to share her story,” HarperCollins said. It added the delayed publishing date was to “allow for the huge volume of material the author has consulted” and “the number of high-level sources spoken to”.
The book, for which she received £20,500 as a partial advance, - The Plot: The Political Assassination Of Boris Johnson - was due to come out on 28 September but it is now expected on 9 November and apparently, attacks Downing Street and the Conservative Party.
Ms Dorries said: “What began as an investigation into how Boris Johnson was removed from office ultimately revealed a corruption of democracy deep at the heart of the Conservative Party and in Downing Street. Secrecy, fear and the cloak of anonymity have protected those who wield power in the shadows, until now.”
A Mid Bedfordshire by-election has been called for 19 October after Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said she would vacate her seat. Central Bedfordshire Council confirmed the by-election date following Ms Dorries’ decision.
So far, seven candidates have declared they would stand for the seat.
