Nadine Dorries is delaying her formal resignation as an MP to prolong the political pain for Rishi Sunak, Sky News understands.
The dates of the by-elections caused by the resignations of Boris Johnson and his ally Nigel Adams are due to be announced today, but it is understood the contest in Ms Dorries’s seat of Mid Bedfordshire will happen at a later date.
Ms Dorries announced she was standing down as an MP with “immediate effect” after it became clear she had been passed over for a peerage in Mr Johnson’s controversial resignation honours list.
The former culture secretary had been chosen by Mr Johnson for a peerage, along with Mr Adams and former COP26 president Sir Alok Sharma.
But when the list was finally revealed, the three names were absent – prompting a fresh war of words between Mr Johnson and his successor.
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Downing Street has said it is “entirely untrue” that Mr Sunak or members of his Number 10 team removed names from Mr Johnson’s honours list following accusations from the former prime minister’s camp.
Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said it was up to the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac), which vets appointments, to “make a decision” on the final list, which is then given to the prime minister.
In his first public comments since the row, Mr Sunak said Mr Johnson wanted him “to do something I wasn’t prepared to do” – “to either overrule the Holac committee or make promises to people”.
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An ally of Mr Johnson claimed senior figures in Downing Street were “lying through their teeth” when they said they did not interfere with Mr Johnson’s honours list.
It is claimed that Ms Dorries and others were not informed that they needed to announce their resignations as MPs within six months of being put forward for peerages – allowing Downing Street to “run down the clock”.
The six-month period ended some weeks ago, a source close to Ms Dorries said.
Ms Dorries may now wait until just before the summer recess to formally resign, which would leave the prime minister to fight an autumn by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency where her 24,000 majority is under threat from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Number 10 has said the decision over when to stand down “is a matter for Nadine”.
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It’s understood that Downing Street do not believe they had any duty to advise nominees on process, which was a matter for Holac.
The contests in Mr Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Selby and Ainsty, held by Mr Adams, are expected to take place in mid to late July – possibly on the same day.
Mr Johnson announced his shock resignation after receiving the draft findings of the privileges committee inquiry into whether he misled MPs with his statements on parties in Downing Street during the pandemic.
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The report, which could be published on Thursday, is expected to be damning for the former prime minister, with reports suggesting it may recommend a suspension from the House of Commons of 20 days – exceeding the 10-day threshold needed to trigger a by-election.
Its publication has been delayed after Mr Johnson sent a last minute letter to the committee – calling for it to publish its “nonsense” report, saying it had “no excuse for delay”.
The committee said that it was dealing with “further representations” made by Mr Johnson’s legal team on Monday night as the group met to conclude the inquiry.
A committee spokesman said on Tuesday: “A letter enclosing further representations from Mr Johnson was received by the committee at 11.57pm last night.
“The committee is dealing with these and will report promptly.”
