... and final curtain for Culture Secretary who took on the snobs
NADINE Dorries will step down as Culture Secretary ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle today.
Liz Truss had offered her the opportunity to stay in her post if she wanted to but Mrs Dorries, who has been a vocal supporter during her leadership campaign, has decided to return to the back benches.
A friend last night said: ‘Nadine has agonised over this as she is 100 per cent supportive of Liz. But she has decided now is the right time to leave Cabinet.’
It is expected she will be given a peerage as Boris Johnson leaves office, which will trigger a by- election in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency she has held since 2005.
Mrs Dorries has been one of the Prime Minister’s staunchest defenders. Since her appointment as Culture Secretary last September, she has sought to do battle with both the BBC and the tech giants, and led moves to privatise Channel 4.
Outside Parliament, the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant has built a successful career as an author.
She has sold more than 2.5million copies of the 15 novels she has written since her first book was published in 2014 – although snobs often sneered at their common touch.
While in Cabinet she has been prevented from signing deals to write new books, which she is now expected to do.
Mrs Dorries, who has gained a reputation for pulling no punches in taking on powerful vested interests, grew up on a council estate in Liverpool before the family moved to
Runcorn, Cheshire. Her parents, an Irish immigrant father and English mother, divorced when she was in her early teens.
She attended a comprehensive school before training to be a nurse. Her father died unexpectedly at the age of 42, while her brother was tragically killed in a car accident at 27.
She has been involved in legislation to curtail the power of the social media firms, including the Online Safety Bill, which will impose a duty of care on them to protect users against illegal or harmful content.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is also drafting legislation to require companies such as Google and Facebook to pay newspapers and other media outlets for using their stories.
The plans address growing concerns that the technology companies are dominating online advertising, to the detriment consumers and businesses. Mrs Dorries has faced criticism over the ferocity of her attacks on Rishi Sunak.
Last month she shared an image on Twitter of the former chancellor mocked up as Brutus about to stab Mr Johnson as Caesar.
The Culture Secretary was condemned by Tory colleagues, who warned it was insensitive after the murder of Sir David Amess last October.
In an interview with the Daily Mail last month, Miss Truss revealed she will order a review into whether not paying for a TV licence should be a criminal offence.