Nadine Dorries instructed to face down by Robert Jenrick as she’s accused of ‘taking voters for a trip’

Aug 10, 2023 at 3:51 PM

A authorities minister has known as for “absentee” Tory MP Nadine Dorries to formally resign, saying her constituents will not be being correctly represented – whereas a Labour MP has mentioned the Conservative is “taking voters for a ride”.

Robert Jenrick mentioned Downing Street will “consider” proposals to oust her from the Commons however she ought to “get on” with the formal technique of vacating her seat so a by-election could be held.

Ms Dorries is but to do that regardless of saying in June she can be standing down with “immediate effect” after she was denied a seat in the House of Lords.

The Boris Johnson loyalist has been branded an “absentee” and “malingerer” as she has not spoken within the Commons since July 2022 and final voted in April this yr.

Asked if her constituents are in limbo and if it is time for her to go, Mr Jenrick instructed Sky News: “Yes, I think being a member of parliament is a special privilege. You sign up for a term in office, if you decide you want to leave parliament [before then] you need to get on and do that.”

He refused to be drawn on whether or not Ms Dorries was an “embarrassment” to the Conservative Party, however mentioned her constituents in Mid Bedfordshire “are not being properly represented”.

Asked about plans by Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant to oust her from the Commons, Mr Jenrick mentioned he believed he was counting on “arcane legislation” however “if he brings forward serious proposals then as individual members of parliament, we’ll have to consider that”.

The feedback from Mr Jenrick go additional than Prime Minister Rishi Sunak final week, who mentioned the previous tradition minister was failing her constituents however stopped wanting calling on her to correctly resign.

The Mid Bedfordshire seat has been held by Ms Dorries since 2005 and the Conservative Party usually since 1931, however the Tories are cautious of any electoral problem as they lag far behind Labour within the polls.

Mr Bryant, who’s chair of the Commons committee on requirements, desires to have a vote requiring Ms Dorries to seem in parliament beneath a rule relationship again to 1801 which states that “no member do presume to go out of town without leave of this House”.

Dorries ‘taking voters for a trip’

He mentioned which means “in other words, you have to get permission to absent yourself from parliament”.

Mr Bryant mentioned a neighborhood councillor can be out of a job in the event that they failed to show as much as something for six months and the identical rule ought to apply for MPs.

He believes the 1801 rule can be utilized to desk a movement saying Ms Dorries’ absence is forbidden and he or she should flip as much as communicate by a sure date “and if she doesn’t, she’s in contempt of parliament”.

Ms Dorries, who writes a Daily Mail column and hosts a TalkTV present, has hit again on the plan on Twitter, accusing Mr Bryant of “publicity seeking” forward of the launch of his ebook about enhancing requirements in parliament.

But he instructed Sky News: “Yeah, I’ve got a book out, it’s all about misconduct in parliament and I think the person at the moment who is taking voters for a ride is the absentee, malingering member for Mid Bedfordshire.”

Ms Dorries introduced her resignation earlier this summer season after it was revealed she wouldn’t be getting ennobled in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours listing, and accused Mr Sunak of interfering within the course of – one thing the prime minister denies.

However, she later mentioned she desires to conduct her personal investigation into why she didn’t get a peerage earlier than truly resigning.