Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries quits Britain’s Parliament after months of delay
- Conservative MP Dorries used her resignation statement to attack PM Rishi Sunak, saying ‘history will not judge you kindly’
- Former culture secretary Dorries announced she would resign more than two months ago in the wake of former PM Johnson’s resignation
In a resignation letter published by the Daily Mail newspaper, Dorries accused Sunak of presiding over “a zombie Parliament where nothing meaningful has happened.” She also accused him of helping to “whip up a public frenzy” against her.
The ethics committee criticised Dorries and other Johnson allies for allegedly trying to interfere with its investigation and “undermine procedures of the House of Commons.”
When Johnson resigned from the Commons, Dorries and another loyalist MP announced they would also resign immediately and trigger special elections. Dorries did not go through with it, and her delay irked many fellow Conservatives.
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Dorries has also accused Sunak of blocking her appointment to the House of Lords, Parliament’s upper chamber, a claim Sunak denied.
She used her resignation statement on Saturday to attack Sunak, who is also a Conservative, saying “history will not judge you kindly.” Johnson’s allies blame Sunak for helping to oust the former prime minister by resigning from the cabinet in July 2022.
Dorries accused Sunak, rather than the scandal-tainted Johnson, of leaving the Conservative Party lagging as much as 20 points behind the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls and facing an “electoral tsunami” in the next national election.
Her departure will trigger a special election for the Mid-Bedfordshire seat in the House of Commons.
Dorries, a former nurse and romance novelist who served in parliament for 18 years, plans to write a book on what she calls the “political assassination” of Boris Johnson.
