Back to Westminster and the looming Tory leadership contest. No one has officially announced their candidacy yet, but the rumour mill is in overdrive as the list of potential runners and riders continues to grow. And who better to pour petrol on the sparks of speculation then Boris Johnson’s longtime ally, Nadine Dorries?
She has today taken it upon herself to write a rather public memo to the much-depleted group of (remaining) Tory MPs. ‘These tweets are for Conservative MPs and party members so apologise [sic] for the length in advance,’ she warned her 195,000 Twitter followers, before launching in. Claiming that the leadership campaigns for Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch – who currently remain unofficial contenders – are being ran by the same people, Dorries proclaimed that:
Influential associates (more on who they are later) who have controlled the party for many years strategise well in advance in order to secure the two candidates on the final ticket put before party members to vote on. That way, they have a clear winner and continue to control the party. They tried this in 2022 with Badenoch and Rishi Sunak. Munira Miraz wrote Badenochs speeches for the 2022 leadership debates whilst her husband, Dougie Smith, worked on Sunak. Team Jenrick has made a deliberate and calculated point of showing respect to the party’s biggest winner, Boris Johnson, in order to win over MPs and party members and get him into the final two.
Good heavens. It’s all rather cloak and daggers. But if readers are a little confused by Dorries’ musings, don’t fear: she’s helpfully pointed to some essential reading on the matter written by none other than, um, herself. ‘I think it’s imperative new MPs read The Plot in order to know what they are dealing with,’ she announced this morning, adding: ‘I will send a free copy to any who contact me.’ What a generous – and ingenious – form of self-promotion..
With her preferred ex-PM candidate very much out of the running, Dorries appears intent on cashing in on another turbulent political time for the Tories. Well, you miss every opportunity you don’t take…
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