Tory MP Anne Marie Morris has been suspended by Theresa May after HuffPost UK revealed her using a racist term during a meeting about Brexit.
Morris was recorded using the offensive phrase “n***** in the woodpile” during a meeting of eurosceptics in central London at Monday lunchtime.
For many, it was the first time the backbench MP for Devon had made headlines beyond her West country constituency.
In fact, if the Conservative had any national profile at all it was following an extraordinary performance during Prime Minister’s Questions in 2012.
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With one arm in a sling - the result of damaging her tendons in her shoulder - Morris could barely contain herself when asking a question about university technical colleges.
Battling to be heard over the rising din, Morris appeared to be caught in a vicious cycle where the more she raised her voice the more it prompted loud cheers from fellow Tories (“More, more!”).
She said: “Given the huge success of the university technical college initiative created over 25 ... will the Prime Minister please confirm he will support a further round of applications this autumn and that funding is available so that businesses, universities, parents and young people in Devon...”
She was saved by a bemused Speaker John Bercow: “We got the gist of it.”
Cameron, laughing, replied: “It’s very good to see the honourable lady on such feisty form!”