‘I have to remove myself’: Nadine Dorries to step down as an MP

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Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries has announced she is standing down as an MP at the next general election.

Dorries, who represents Mid Bedfordshire and has been an MP since 2005, hit out at her party’s decision to remove Boris Johnson as prime minister as she used her new TalkTV show to confirm her departure.

The Tory MP has been a vocal critic of Rishi Sunak and his government since he entered Number 10, hitting out again on Thursday at those who “bet everything on a Rishi bounce”.

She said: “Those MPs who drank the Kool-Aid and got rid of Boris Johnson are already asking themselves the question: who next? And I’m afraid that the lack of cohesion, the infighting and occasionally the sheer stupidity from those who think we could remove a sitting prime minister, who secured a higher percentage of the vote share than Tony Blair did in 1997, just three short years ago…

“That they could do that and the public would let us get away with it. I’m afraid it’s this behaviour that I now just have to remove myself from.

“And so, despite it being a job that I’ve loved for every year that I’ve done it, I’m now off. Oh gosh, I’ve just said it out loud, there’s no going back now.”

TalkTV released a clip of Dorries’ announcement ahead of her next show on Friday.

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She follows other well-known Tory names announcing they will not fight the next election as the party struggles in the polls. In December, former health secretary Matt Hancock said he would step down following the row over his appearance on I’m a Celebrity. There were similar announcements in November from housing minister Dehenna Davison and former work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith.