Last week, Nadine Dorries said she would resign from her Mid Bedfordshire post with immediate effect.
Former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries has said she will not resign until she gets more information about why she was denied a peerage.
Boris Johnson’s ally announced last Friday that she would retire as an MP for Mid Bedfordshire “with immediate effect”.
in a Cheep, she said she had requested all correspondence regarding her removal.
Ms Dorries said she had submitted Subject Access Requests to the House of Lords Appointments Committee (HOLAC), the Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Office.
Subject access requests allow a person to receive a copy of all of their personal data held by a government department.
Freedom of information expert Martin Rosenbaum has pointed out that under the Data Protection Law 2018, the right of access to personal data does not apply to data processed by the honors system.
In a thread of several tweets, Dorries said she had requested copies of WhatsApp messages, text messages, emails and meeting minutes. in connection with the process of nominating him for the House of Lords
Once he receives them, he “will take the time to properly consider the information provided to me,” Ms Dorries added.
He went on to say that it is “absolutely my intention to resign” but “this process is now regrettably necessary.”
He added that his “office continues to function as normal and, of course, I will continue to serve my constituents.”
Before Ms Dorries’s announcement, the number 10 said it was important for her constituents to have “certainty”.
“Obviously it is unusual for an MP to say that he will resign with immediate effect and for that not to happen,” added the prime minister’s press secretary.
Mid-election hat-trick
Johnson also announced he would leave Parliament on Friday, before a Commons report is expected to accuse him of misleading MPs over the Partygate scandal, due to be published on Thursday.
Nigel Adams, one of Johnson’s other close allies, resigned as MP on Monday, following reports that his name was also removed from the list of approved peerages.
By-elections to replace them were triggered on Wednesday, with July 3 or July 20 being the possible voting dates.
While Ms Dorries is still a Member of Parliament, she is able to appear in the Chamber of the House of Commons to make her views known.
Anything he says would be covered by parliamentary privilege, allowing him to speak openly on any subject, without fear of legal consequences.
The Conservatives, who trail Labor in national polls, wanted to wrap up quick campaigns before Parliament’s summer recess and make any political pain from the by-election short and sharp.
But if Ms Dorries keeps her party waiting, she could force them into a potentially divisive by-election later on, say before the party’s fall conference season.