Nadine Dorries resigns as MP
She's tweeted "it is now time for another to take the reins".
Last updated 9th Jun 2023
Nadine Dorries has said she is standing down as an MP "with immediate effect", tweeting it had been an "honour" to serve her Mid-Bedfordshire constituency.
She's tweeted: "I have today informed the chief whip that I am standing down as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, with immediate effect.
"It has been an honour to serve as the MP for such a wonderful constituency but it is now time for another to take the reins."
It's rumoured the Former cabinet minister - and long-time ally of Boris Johnson - is lined up for a peerage in the former prime minister's resignation honours list.
There'll now be a by-election in her Mid-Bedfordshire Constituency, where she's been MP since 2005.
She won 60% of the vote in the constituency of Mid Bedfordshire at the 2019 general election, well ahead of Labour in second place on 22%.
'Workload' led to the resignation
Nadine Dorries blamed her workload for quitting as a Tory MP and appeared to confirm she was not on Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.
Appearing on Talk TV The former culture secretary also insisted she was “not angry”.
“The bottom line is really, I’m doing my own show on TalkTV and I write a column in the Daily Mail every Tuesday, which takes a lot more time than I ever thought it would do,” she told TalkTV.
“It’s actually hard work.
“I’ve been working like seven days a week and I’m also managing these outside jobs as well as my role as an MP.
“And the House of Lords thing was on the cards and it’s gone back to Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) for MPs to be vetted or whatever and I just thought, you know, I think this is the time actually for me to stand down.”
Dorries doesn't appear on Boris Johnson's resignation honours list
Boris Johnson’s long-awaited resignation honours list has been released, with the former prime minister handing peerages to former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen.
Former cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel were given a knighthood and a damehood respectively.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries and Sir Alok Sharma, president of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, were absent from the list, following reports the Government cut them at the 11th hour to swerve potentially damaging by-elections in their seats, although as Ms Dorries announced earlier, she's decided to step down anyway.