Nadine Dorries in 'first TV interview since resigning'

       Nadine Dorries has said her former Tory MP colleagues should blame No. 10 if they’re upset by the timing of the Mid Bedfordshire by-election.

       Speaking to TalkTV this afternoon, Ms Dorries set out that Rishi Sunak now faces the “worst by-election defeat in living history”, which will also overshadow both the Conservative Party Conference and Mr Sunak’s one year anniversary of coming to power.

       Ms Dorries said she’d had desperate texts from Tory MPs begging her not to stand down, but said it was the Prime Minister’s fault for opening the flood gates of abuse during an LBC interview before the Summer Recess, in which he said she should stand down.

       “All of those things were in the back of my mind: by-elections; not good for the party; 20 points behind; 'it will be the worst by-election defeat in living history if it takes place’; constant messages from my peers saying ‘please don’t do this, you will damage MPs in marginal seats’; the first anniversary of Rishi coming to power; conference; all of these things were at play.”

       “And yet the entire summer, Rishi Sunak has been asking for me to go."

       READ MORE: Nadine Dorries criticised for flamboyant resignation and 'attacks' on PM

       Nadine Dorries spoke for the first time following her resignation to TalkTV (Image: TalkTV)

       She said any Tory MP angry with her decision to stand down should “look to No. 10 and ask them ‘what the hell are you doing?”.

       Ms Dorries emphatically said she doesn’t think the Tories can win the next election with Rishi Sunak as leader, who doesn’t have the ‘rockstar’ personality of Thatcher, Blair or Boris.

       She added: “Party politics is a mess. The Conservative Party is broken."

       The former Cabinet Minister also refused to comment on whether she would defect to Reform UK, saying she’d been too busy organising her grandchild’s birthday party to think about her future in politics.

       She also refused to say if she’d vote for Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party at the General Election.

       Nadine Dorries said the Tories won't win under Rishi Sunak (Image: Getty)

       Ms Dorries batted away claims her resignation letter was “angry”, saying if she were a man it would have been described as “powerful and assertive”, and the tone is being attacked because she’s a blonde woman.

       In her letter, Ms Dorries said Mr Sunak had encouraged so much hate to be directed towards her she’d had to get the police involved for her own safety.

       She confirmed to TalkTV she had contact with her local force just two days ago, at which point she thought “this has got to end now”.

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       She refuted allegations she had been ‘missing in action’, arguing she “loves” Mid Bedfordshire and had continued working hard on their behalf, including her office’s four caseworkers.

       Ms Dorries added: “To be criticised for not being in parliament when it has been a zombie parliament for the last 12 months is a bit rich”.

       She said she will focus on her writing for the foreseeable future, not least her book set to expose intimate details about the fall of Boris Johnson, which she promised will be “quite alarming to the Conservative membership”.

       Of her blocked peerage, she said “It’s gone, it’s passed”.

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