FURIOUS Nadine Dorries last night accused Rishi Sunak of blocking her peerage – and that she was “bullied” by No10.
The former culture secretary told TalkTV it was a “painful decision” to quit her job as an MP – but said the Government’s “stupidity” had forced her.
Nadine Dorries hit back last night after reports her peerage was blocked
The author, telly star and MP was widely expected to be on Boris Johnson’s list of peerages last week – but her name was mysteriously absent last week.
No10 insisted it had nothing to do with the list, and had not interfered with it in any way.
TalkTV host Ms Dorries told Piers Morgan Uncensored she was “broken hearted” at what had happened
She said her nomination had been taken away “cruelly” by “two privileged posh boys”, adding you have to “have to stand up for yourself” against bullying.
In a major interview, she said she knew last year she was due to get elevated to the House of Lords – and had felt emotional because it was such a prestigious honour.
She continued: “It is a place… God, from me from my background, no-one would ever have dreamt that someone from my background could get to the House of Lords. I was born in a place called Breck Road… one of the poorest streets in the country, not just in Liverpool.”
Nadine said: “So to be told that you are being put on a list, to be nominated to go into the House of Lords. It is just, like, it’s unbelievable.
“I call it the ‘Class Ceiling’ – I wanted to break that ceiling.”
The House of Lords Appointment Committee – who vet people for the role – had told No10 she had to quit the Commons first – Nadine said.
But she claims no one told her about.
Rishi and Boris had a tense meeting about the list last week, just before it was published.
The two men’s spat spilled out into the open yesterday – as the PM said BoJo had asked him to bend the rules to get his mates jobs in the Lords.
Boris said the claims were “rubbish”.
Nadine added: “Rishi used very weasel words, he said to Boris Johnson, and that’s the only thing Boris asked him to do. He said whatever list Holac hand back to me, I will sign off.”
And she hit out at the PM’s political secretary – the only other person in the room with the two men last week.
Asked point blank who was to blame, she said: “The Prime Minister… Rishi Sunak. Very cleverly, his political secretary would do the heavy lifting, the not passing the message on, the not doing what Holac asked.
“But James Forsyth is Rishi Sunak’s best friend, he was best man at his wedding.”
Asked if Rishi Sunak lied to Boris Johnson, she repeated he had used very clever words to weasel out of it.
The PM now faces a huge headache as both Boris and Nadine have now quit as MPs – forcing two byelections for the Tories to try and hold on to.
