Nadine Dorries defends the Tories’ botched coup

It’s been a rough start to the week for Brexiteers in the ERG, as they failed to reach 48 no confidence letters over the weekend, and are now being forced to explain why their coup (sorry, ‘democratic process within the Conservative party’) against Theresa May has been such a disaster.

It was Nadine Dorries’ turn this afternoon to spin the unspinable, as she bravely attempted on Politics Live to portray the disastrous attempt as somehow positive.

When presented with the Telegraph headline: ‘Plotters fail to light the fuse’, Dorries’ reply that ‘No, it’s a burning fuse’ was a little unconvincing.

But she stretched credulity even more when asked how long she thought the coup was going to take:

‘Well, I think the decision to reach the 48 has been a tactical decision because what people are still trying to do… You know we don’t want to oust our Prime Minister. I personally do not want to be seen to be responsible for ousting our second female Prime Minister.