Nadine Dorries has claimed she is still “working daily” for her constituents after a senior Conservative MP urged Rishi Sunak to strip her of the party whip.
Caroline Nokes, who chairs the women and equalities select committee, told the prime minister to sack the former culture secretary as a Conservative MP, accusing her of “making a mockery” of her Mid-Bedfordshire seat by refusing to resign as promised 10 weeks ago.
Ms Dorries is also facing pressure from within her own constituency to resign with Shefford town council and Flitwick town saying she is focused on “political manoeuvres to embarrass the government” and not representing her constituents.
But Ms Dorries, who has not spoken in parliament for more than a year, retorted on Wednesday that she is in fact “getting on” with her job.
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She gave a short statement to News Agents podcast saying that “political opponents, such as Labour-run Flitwick town council are choosing the summer and news-hungry outlets in the summer recess to be noted”.
She added “myself and my team of four caseworkers are working daily with constituents”, adding: “We are just getting on with the work.”
Ms Dorries, who has served as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005, has angered opposition MPs as well as Conservatives by remaining in post long after she announced on June 9 that she would step down “with immediate effect” in protest at not being given a peerage in former prime minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.
The Boris Johnson loyalist has been branded as an “absentee” MP and the “lingering MP for Mid Bedfordshire” as she has not spoken in the commons since July 2022 and last voted in April this year.
Ms Dorries claims she is delaying her commons exit because she is investigating the case of her peerage nomination, which she believes was blocked by Rishi Sunak’s team “to punish Boris”.
Last month, Flitwick town council in Mid Bedfordshire expressed its “concerns and frustration with the situation” and urged Ms Dorries to “immediately vacate” the seat.
In an open letter, the council accused Ms Dorries of focussing on her chat show on TalkTV and “political manoeuvres to embarrass the government for not appointing you to the House of Lords” rather than representing constituents.
Rishi Sunak has also said that Ms Dorries’ constituents are not being properly represented while she remained in post.
The prime minister told LBC radio earlier this month: “I think people deserve to have an MP that represents them, wherever they are.”
“At the moment people aren’t being properly represented.”