Nadine Dorries: Angry town council blasts Mid Bedfordshire MP for not representing her constituency - and tells her to quit "immediately"

A town council is calling on former Conservative cabinet minister Nadine Dorries to formally resign from Parliament.

Flitwick Town Council has written to the Mid Bedfordshire MP asking for her to speed up the process of quitting her post.

Ms Dorries made her intention to leave Westminster clear “with immediate effect” on June 9 – but almost two months on she has yet to officially step down, saying she is waiting for answers over an administrative matter she wants resolved.

Feeling left in limbo, Flitwick Town Council clerk Stephanie Stanley was instructed to send a letter to the Mid Bedfordshire MP in an attempt to hasten her departure.

And the letter slammed the MP’s lack of representation for the constituency, pointing out that she had not spoken in the House of Commons for more than a year, or held a surgery in Fltwick for more than three years.

It went on to say the council was concerned her focus was “firmly on your television show, your upcoming book and political manoeuvres to embarrass the government over not appointing you to the House of Lords”.

The letter read: “Dear Ms Dorries, reference action required … no representation for Mid Bedfordshire.

“Following a discussion at the recent town council meeting on July 18th, I’ve been asked to write to you formally to raise the local authority’s concerns and frustration at the continuing lack of representation for the people of Mid Bedfordshire at Westminster.

“You previously announced your intention to stand down as MP at the next election, but then revealed you were standing down with immediate effect on June 9th 2023. Since that date, you haven’t resigned.

“The last time you spoke in the House of Commons was June 7th 2022. You’ve not maintained a constituency office for a considerable time and it’s widely understood you haven’t held a surgery in Flitwick since March 2020.

“Rather than representing constituents, the council is concerned that your focus appears to have been firmly on your television show, your upcoming book and political manoeuvres to embarrass the government over not appointing you to the House of Lords.

“Councillors noted that your behaviour, widely reported in the Press, isn’t in line with The Seven Principles of Public Life set out by Lord Nolan in 1995.

“With an estimated population of 13,800 people, Flitwick represents the largest concentration of voters in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

“The town council has a long history of operating on a non-political basis, with a strong ethos that our council must represent the views and needs of residents regardless of party politics.

“Our residents desperately need effective representation now, and Flitwick Town Council calls on you to immediately vacate your seat to allow a by-election.”

A copy of the letter was forwarded to the chairman of the Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Association Blake Stephenson and to the Conservative Party chief whip Simon Hart, the Parliamantary Secretary to the Treasury.

By-elections have been held earlier this month in Parliamentary seats of three former Tory MPs, who announced they would stand down around the same time as Ms Dorries.

She said previously on social media: “I’ve today informed the chief whip that I’m standing down as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, with immediate effect.

“It’s been an honour to serve as the MP for such a wonderful constituency, but it’s now time for another to take the reins.”

Ms Dorries won the seat with a majority of 24,664 in 2019. The former culture secretary received criticism for launching a television talk show, Friday Night with Nadine, on Talk TV earlier this year.