'Dosser Dorries Out' - Banner at Bedfordshire station calls for Tory MP Nadine Dorries to quit

A banner demanding “Dosser Dorries Out” has gone up in the constituency of the absentee Conservative MP Nadine Dorries.

The poster appeared on railings near Flitwick rail station in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency, the town where the local council has demanded she stands down.

Former cabinet minister Ms Dorries announced in June that she was resigning with “immediate effect” after she failed to receive a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

But the Tory MP is yet to stand down formally, claiming she is investigating why she was refused a seat in the Lords.

She has come under fresh pressure to quit as an MP after failing to speak in the Commons for more than a year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has already said the former culture secretary’s voters “aren’t being properly represented”, and immigration minister Robert Jenrick said on Wednesday it was time for her to quit.

“I think being a Member of Parliament is a special privilege. You sign up for a term in office,” he told Sky News.

“If you decide you want to leave Parliament for whatever reason, you need to get on and do that.

“I don’t think that Nadine Dorries’ constituents are being properly represented. I hope she’ll reach that conclusion soon.”

In a letter to her, Flitwick Town Council said: “The last time you spoke in the Commons was 7 June 2022.

"You have not maintained a constituency office for a considerable time, and it’s widely understood that you have not held a surgery in Flitwick since March 2020.”

Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant has proposed tabling a motion in parliament requiring an MP to attend the Commons. If they fail to do so the MP could be found in contempt and could face suspension and a by-election.

Ms Dorries remains as MP for Mid Bedfordshire but is hosting a weekly chat show on Talk TV and has written a book titled The Plot: The Political Assassination Of Boris Johnson, to be published in September, just days before the Conservative Party conference.

The Mid Bedfordshire seat has been held by Ms Dorries since 2005 and the Conservative Party generally since 1931.

Labour is hopeful of snatching the seat although the Liberal Democrats also believe they have the chance of springing another by-election shock.

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