The prime minister has criticised Nadine Dorries for failing her constituents while they wait for the MP to formalise her resignation.
The former culture secretary announced on 9 June that she would be standing down “with immediate effect”, just ahead of her close ally Boris Johnson’s own exit from parliament.
But almost eight weeks later, she still has not officially quit, and remains the representative for Mid Bedfordshire.
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Asked about the situation on LBC, Rishi Sunak said: “I think people deserve to have an MP that represents them wherever they are.
“And it’s just making sure that your MP is engaging with you, representing you, whether that’s speaking in parliament or being present in their constituencies, doing surgeries, answering your letters.
“That’s the job of an MP and all MPs should be held to that standard.”
Asked if Ms Dorries was failing on those criteria, the prime minister replied: “At the moment, people aren’t being properly represented.”
The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Daisy Cooper, who is hoping her party will take the seat when a by-election is eventually called, said voters felt “completely taken for granted”.
“Families are facing soaring bills and are finding it almost impossible to get a GP appointment, while this government is wrapped up in sleaze and the Conservative’s MP is nowhere to be seen,” she added.
“When your own prime minister says you aren’t doing your job properly, it really is time to go.”
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Last week, a council within Ms Dorries’s constituency wrote her a letter to demand her resignation, saying “residents desperately need effective representation now”.
Flitwick Town Council claimed the MP had not held a surgery in the town since March 2020 and had not maintained a constituency office “for a considerable time”, as well as not speaking in parliament.
The town mayor, Councillor Andy Snape, said her “absence and lack of interest/contribution” had held back local projects, as he hit out at her living in the Cotswolds rather than in her constituency.
He also said demands had been growing for her to “do the right thing rather than continue to hold the people of Mid Bedfordshire to ransom while she plays political games for personal gain”.
In a statement on social media, Councillor Snape added: “Her focus appears to be firmly on her TalkTV show, her new Daily Mail column, and, more recently, her upcoming tell-all book and exerting as much pressure as possible to embarrass the government into giving her a peerage.
“Regardless of your political viewpoint, Mid Bedfordshire residents desperately need representation at Westminster. It’s time for Dorries to put Mid Bedfordshire first and let someone else have a go.”
Sky News has approached Nadine Dorries for comment.