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Nadine Dorries quits again with final blast at Rishi

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Nadine Dorries is off – and this time it’s for real. Following weeks of criticism, the former Culture Secretary has finally announced that she will be quitting the Commons when parliament returns from recess on Monday 4 September. That will trigger a by-election in her Mid-Bedfordshire constituency, helpfully timed to coincide with Tory party conference. Dorries first declared she would leave the Commons at the same time as Boris Johnson and Nigel Adams back in June but has hung on ever since, giving the Lib Dems in her constituency time to organise.

In a scathing letter published on the Daily Mail’s website, Dorries says Sunak has ‘squandered the goodwill of the nation,’ ‘discarded’ levelling up, and put ‘personal ambition above the stability of the country’. She also used an accompanying interview to accuse Sunak of betraying Conservative principles and behaving irresponsibly, putting her personal safety at risk by ‘whipping up a public frenzy’ against her. Good to know the Mail is getting their money’s worth from one former Tory MP.

And it’s surely in that same spirit of self-advancement that Dorries also took the chance to plug her forthcoming book which ‘exposes how the democratic process at the heart of our party has been corrupted.’ One for the Christmas stockings, no doubt…

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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