Nadine Dorries May Stand On A Joint Tory/Ukip Ticket In 2015

Nadine Dorries May Stand On A Joint Tory/Ukip Ticket In 2015
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Nadine Dorries may stand on a joint Ukip/Tory ticket
AP

Just days after being welcomed back into the Conservative Party after an enforced absence, Nadine Dorries has indicated she may stand for election in 2015 on a joint Tory/Ukip ticket.

The Tory leadership allowed the Mid Bedfordshire MP to rejoin the party amid fears she was on the verge of defecting to Nigel Farage's eurosceptic party in the wake of the local election results.

Now it appears the outspoken critic of David Cameron and George Osborne, she coined the "arrogant posh boys" label that has stuck, has decided to do what could be seen as a sort of half-defection.

In an interview with Thursday's edition of The Spectator, Dorries said many members of her local Conservative association feel a "huge amount of empathy" with Ukip.

Asked if she would consider seeking a joint Conservative Party and Ukip endorsement at the next general election she told the magazine: "I will be having that kind of conversation with my association".

"There are members in my association who approached me recently who are confused. They have always been Conservative and will never change their allegiance but feel very much as though they have a huge amount of empathy with Ukip," she said.

"I feel it would be a travesty if Ukip came in and took the seats off our councillors or indeed me when actually their policies and their beliefs are very much Ukip. Because what we have done, we have thrown clothes off and they have picked them up and put them on."

Labour's shadow leader of the Commons Angela Eagle said: "Any Labour candidate who tried to stand on a joint ticket with Ukip would be auto-excluded from the Labour Party - it's as simple as that.

"For David Cameron to give the Conservative whip back to Nadine Dorries and then have her publicly considering standing for Ukip just a week later shows just how weak he is. He can't lead his MPs on Europe - but he's too weak to take action against them as well."

Asked about Ms Dorries' comments during a press conference at the UN, Mr Cameron said: "The Conservative Party doesn't do pacts and deals.

"We are set to win the election outright. That is our aim and that what we will deliver."

On Monday ultra-eurosceptic Tory MP Peter Bone said the Conservatives and Ukip should form a "holy alliance" in order to prevent the Labour Party winning the election.

And Ukip leader Nigel Farage said he knew of Conservative "associations out there" who wanted their local Tory MP to stand on a joint ticket with his party.