Nadine Dorries blames Rishi for ‘murdering’ her peerage in Piers Morgan grilling

Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has blamed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for “murdering” her peerage in a fierce grilling by Piers Morgan on Talk TV tonight.

As Piers Morgan requested her: “Who’s the murderer here?” over her peerage, including: “What has stopped you, Nadine Dorries, from joining the House of Lords?”

Ms Dorries replied: “The Prime Minister. He did not pass on the information from HOLAC.”

The former tradition secretary and Boris Johnson loyalist denied “knifing the party” by triggering a by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire seat when she stood down on Friday.

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Ms Dorries, was among the many names of sitting MPs missing from the record, together with Sir Alok Sharma – who was Cop26 president, and former minister Nigel Adams.

She used the interview to launch a contemporary assault on the Prime Minister, claiming he used “weasel words” and “sophistry” in a gathering with Mr Johnson final week which left the outgoing MP believing she can be included.

Ms Dorries sought to divide the row alongside class traces, branding Mr Sunak and James Forsyth – his political aide – “privileged posh boys” who stopped her being provided a seat within the Lords.

“I’m broken-hearted, not just for me but for everyone who comes from a background like mine,” she stated.

Mr Johnson’s personal background isn’t a good comparability as a result of he attended Eton on a scholarship and has “no money”, she claimed.

Asked to clarify her understanding of what had occurred, she stated the House of Lords appointment fee (Holac) had advised No 10 she would want to announce her departure as an MP with a view to enter the Lords.

She stated she was conscious of this rule, however that she had been urged “via back channels” to not immediate a by-election so held off.

A plan was devised by the Cabinet Secretary whereby she would keep on the record till a common election, however “we found out that suddenly that wasn’t allowed”, Ms Dorries claimed.

Detailing the chain of occasions on Friday, the previous minister stated she solely discovered that her identify was not on the record half an hour earlier than it was revealed.

The Chief Whip spoke to her within the morning to say “everything’s fine” earlier than contacting her hours later to disclose she was not included, she stated.

On the rationale behind her shock resignation, she stated: “It was the sheer audacity of the Chief Whip thinking that at my age having worked in Parliament for 21 years, serving 18 years on the back benches, having been a minister during Covid… having been a secretary of state, that he can dangle out to me some kind of stick and carrot, like ‘be a good girl and we’ll make sure something’s sorted for you in the future’, which is basically what he was saying to me. That for me, and that moment, was what made me change my mind.

“I think you come to a point in life when you have to stop, when you can’t just be pushed around, when you can’t allow people to bully you, as I’ve just been bullied by No 10. You can’t allow that to happen, you have to stand up for yourself, and that’s what I did.”

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 stated she was “100%” positive that her former boss had not determined to axe her from the record himself.

It comes amid an escalating confrontation between Mr Johnson and the Prime Minister.

The former prime minister accused Mr Sunak of “talking rubbish” for claiming his predecessor requested him to overrule the vetting committee to push by means of his House of Lords nominations.

“To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality,” Mr Johnson stated.

One Downing Street supply stated the Cabinet Office had made it clear to Mr Johnson that there isn’t any re-vetting course of, whereas the Prime Minister’s official spokesman stated it’s “entirely untrue to say that anyone from No 10 attempted to remove or change” to Holac-approved record.