Old footage of Nadine Dorries in the Commons tearing into MPs who don’t listen to their constituents is rapidly gaining attention online.
The clip is from 2014, but has resurfaced now after some of Dorries’ own constituents signed a petition which could force her to face a by-election.
The former culture secretary announced in June that she would resign from parliament “with immediate effect” after being denied a seat in the Lords.
Months later, she is still in her seat. She can’t actually be forced out unless she breaks parliamentary rules – or she resigns – and her constituents trigger a by-election.
However, her constituents have now started signing a petition which would change these rules.
In this old clip, Dorries pointedly said: “Where MPs do fall down is where they ignore their constituents.”
The Mid Bedfordshire MP also told her parliamentary colleagues that her constituents know she is not a “party political MP” and when she’s in her constituency, she “represents everybody, regardless of who they vote for”.
Tooting her own horn, she continued: “They also know that I will go the extra mile. I don’t do surgeries once a month, I do them, most times, every week.
“They know I don’t get involved in grubby games or political games in parliament. They know I represent them.
“I put my constituency before my party.”
Nowadays, Dorries is known for being one of the most vocal supporters of Boris Johnson, and was pulled into a furious row with No.10 over the ex-PM’s honours list.
She claimed “posh” Rishi Sunak blocked her peerage, something the prime minister has repeatedly denied.
He has also lashed out at her for not “properly” representing her constituents recently.
Even Dorries’ own local council have called her to step down because her constituents are being denied “effective representative” in parliament.
Dorries hasn’t spoken in the Commons since June 2022.
Back in 2014, the MP also said it was “nonsense” that someone could be removed from their parliamentary seat, claiming constituents wouldn’t turn against their political representative because of a political row.
The footage was shared on Twitter (newly rebranded as X) by an account called Best For Britain, along with the caption: “2014 Nadine Dorries needs to have a word with 2023 Nadine Dorries.”
In less than an hour, it had racked up almost 60,000 views and more than 2,000 likes.
More than 4,800 people have signed the petition to make MPs who are absent from their constituent and parliament subject to recall – with the highest number of signatories coming from Mid Bedfordshire.
It needs 10,000 people to sign it for the government to respond.
She was elected to her seat, a Conservative stronghold since 1931, 18 years ago and has a majority of 24,664, but a poll from Opinium in July suggested Labour could take the constituency.
Meanwhile, chair of the Commons committee on standards, Chris Bryant, is working on a plan to force her out of parliament.
He wants to have a vote requiring Dorries to appear in parliament on a particular date under a rule dating back to 1801.