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The latest blue-on-blue \u200ba\u200bttack erupted after Nadine Dorries – a Boris Johnson loyalist – launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister as she finally formally resigned, 11 weeks after promising to go.<\/p>\n
Supporters of Rishi Sunak accused the former Culture Secretary of presiding over a \u201ctheatre of the absurd\u201d and \u201cturning her resignation into a psychodrama\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u200bIn her resignation letter she heavily criticised Mr Sunak personally and accused his government of making no progress.<\/p>\n
Ms Dorries said is being \u201crun by a zombie parliament where nothing meaningful has happened.\u201d She also said of the Prime Minister: \u201cYou have no mandate from the people and the government is adrift.<\/p>\n
You have squandered the goodwill of the nation, for what?\u201d Speaking to Talk TV yesterday, Ms Dorries\u200b continued her extraordinary broadside claim\u200bing the Conservatives are \u201cvery, very unlikely\u201d to win a majority at the next election and said Mr Sunak had \u201csquandered the goodwill of the nation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked if she would vote Tory at the next election, the outgoing MP said: \u201cYou\u2019re asking me a question I don\u2019t want to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE <\/strong> Rishi Sunak ‘facing worst by-election defeat in history’ on his year anniversary<\/strong><\/p>\n \u200bSir James Duddridge, another key ally of Mr Johnson, last night called for calm warning that the opposition leader will win if the civil war is allowed to rage on.<\/p>\n The Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East, told the Daily Express: \u201c2019 and a 80 seat majority seem a long way away. \u201cNone of us are blameless in all this, Rishi, Boris, Nadine.<\/p>\n All of us got us into this mess.\u201cThe question is how do we get out of it. Rishi\u2019s 5 pledges are a start but we need to deliver, especially on the economy and fast.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to end the infighting or Keir Starmer wins.\u201d Senior backbencher Sir Bill Cash also warned that infighting would only play into the hands odf the opposition.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThere\u2019s been so much of this going on over the Boris period. \u201cBoris won the election with a massive majority and he\u2019s been very badly treated.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the reality is, there have been other collateral casualties. \u201cI do think she has had a very rough deal. But at the same time, a lot of other people have been put in similar situations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe evidence is very strong, in fact overwhelming, by-elections don\u2019t demonstrate what will happen in the General Elections.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we should be fighting Labour. It is not a civil war. It is a really important moment. People are interpreting this as a civil war.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n “We need to win in the national interest.\u201d In an interview yesterday (sun), Ms Dorries said she was loyal to the ideals of the party, but dodged the question when asked if she could join another right wing party such as Reform.<\/p>\n But in her resignation letter she heavily criticised Sunak personally and accused his government of making no progress.<\/p>\n Asked if she thought the Tories could win under Sunak, she told Talk TV: \u201cI have to say my answer to that question is no.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would urge the people of Mid Bedfordshire to forget about anything to do with party politics at the moment because it\u2019s a mess and the Conservative Party is broken.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Sunak previously said Ms Dorries\u2019 voters in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency were not \u201cbeing properly represented\u201d, but did not move to expel her.<\/p>\n \u200bSenior Tory Bob Neill \u2013 a loyal Sunak supporter \u2013 hit back saying Ms Dorries had \u201cbecome an embarrassment\u201d after presiding over a \u201ctheatre of the absurd\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Neill told Times Radio: \u201cShe was a pretty useless culture secretary and she finally created her own theatre of the absurd. It is so obviously motivated by personal bitterness and bile and has got no credibility at all.<\/p>\n \u201cTo accuse the prime minister, who is doing his best to get back to sound economic policy, of abandoning fundamental principles, really takes the biscuit, of all the political absurdity I\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bTory peer Gavin Barwell, the former No 10 chief of staff under Theresa May, said her claim that Mr Sunak \u201cwhipped up a storm\u201d against her was \u201cabsurd\u201d \u2013 insisting that it had come from the constituency.<\/p>\n Senior Tory Caroline Nokes accused Ms Dorries of \u201cturning her resignation into a psychodrama\u201d, telling BBC Radio 4\u2019s Broadcasting House: \u201cSadly this seems more about gathering column inches for Nadine rather than a Conservative Party she claimed to be a loyal member of a few weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Veterans\u2019 Minister Johnny Mercer said: \u201cNo one\u2019s bigger than the party – you\u2019re talking to a guy who\u2019s been sacked from Government twice.<\/p>\n No one\u2019s bigger than the party. The party is there in the national interest and is there to deliver for the people of Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Mercer conceded that \u201cfrom time to time everybody will feel unhappy\u201d, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s regrettable that Nadine\u2019s gone down the personal route, but that is her right. She\u2019s been a Conservative MP for some time.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone\u2019s kind of tired of raking over the coals of that Boris Johnson premiership, I think it was an extremely difficult time for many of us and we just need to get on with the pitch as it currently is now and deliver for people in the UK, who expect us to show that delivery by the time of the next election.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Mercer added: \u201cI think we have to work harder to make people really feel those benefits and feel that stuff is being done.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t think the characterisation that we\u2019ve seen of the Government this morning is fair, of course I don\u2019t, but people are more than entitled to their opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Dorries finally handed in her resignation 11 weeks after she vowed to go, leaving the PM facing another potentially damaging electoral test during the Conservative Party conference.<\/p>\n Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats believe they can win the by-election. Ms Dorries said she was resigning with \u201cimmediate effect\u201d on 9 June after she failed to get a peerage in the former Prime Minister\u2019s resignation honours list.<\/p>\n But the Tory MP said she delayed her exit to investigate why she was refused a seat in the House of Lords. Ms Dorries\u2019 own colleagues condemned her behaviour, branding it \u201cembarrassing\u201d for the Conservatives and Parliament.<\/p>\n Tobias Ellwood, the Chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee said: \u201cIt\u2019s been an undignified chapter. I\u2019m afraid what she\u2019s done has been self serving. It\u2019s been distracting to delay her resignation in this way.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really want to spend a lot of airtime on this, which is an episode of colleagues throwing their Teddy\u2019s in the corner, in this case for simply not getting a peerage.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m pleased we\u2019re now able to move on. You know, whatever you do in Parliament, whatever positions you take, you must firstly be in the country\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n And then secondly, in the party\u2019s interests and what she and others have done recently fails on both accounts.<\/p>\n \u201cHow you conduct yourself in moments of difficulty or disappointment actually exposes a lot and delaying this resignation was designed to maximise harm to the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pleased that this sort of selfish charade is now over. The party can now move forward and we pick up the pieces and we repair.We have a fantastic candidate now and I believe we will retain the seat.\u201d<\/p>\n The former Culture Secretary also accused Mr Sunak of abandoning \u201cthe fundamental principles of Conservatism\u201d and said \u201chistory will not judge you kindly\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSince you took office a year ago, the country is run by a zombie parliament where nothing meaningful has happened,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat exactly has been done or have you achieved? You hold the office of prime minister unelected, without a single vote, not even from your own MPs. You have no mandate from the people, and the government is adrift. You have squandered the goodwill of the nation, for what?\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/secondary\/4930224.jpg?r=1693167819124\")
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