Absentee MP Nadine Dorries ‘could be ousted from parliament by rule change’

Jump to content Sign up to our newsletters Subscribe News Sport Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Absentee MP Nadine Dorries could be ousted from parliament under a plan backed by the chair of the Commons standards committee. Labour MP Chris Bryant says an 1801 rule preventing MPs from going “out of town without leave of the house” should be reinstated. The rule change would force Ms Dorries to attend parliament or face a by-election, the Financial Times reports . Ms Dorries has not spoken in the Commons for over a year and has been urged to step down – including by a local council in her constituency. On 9 June said she would resign her her seat in the Commons “with immediate effect” in protest at not getting a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours. But the Mid Bedfordshire MP, who continues to drawn an MP’s salary, is yet to follow through. Now Sir Chris says that when MPs return in September it would be ‘perfectly legitimate’ to table a motion saying MPs who fail to show up for six months must attend a date or be suspended for 10 sitting days or more. Such a suspension would trigger the threshold for Ms Dorries’ constituents to launch recall petition again her, finally triggering the by-election she promised in June. The plan is outlined in Sir Chris’s new book, Code of Conduct: Why We Ned to Fix Parliament – and How to Do It. A Border Force vessel carrying a group of people thought to be migrants arrives in Dover, Kent, following a small boat incident in the Channel PA A Sotheby’s handler examines cat memorabilia on display, during Sotheby’s ‘Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own’ press preview in London REUTERS Pedestrians walk along the River Thames towards Westminster Bridge in London Reuters Lauren James scores England’s fourth goal of the game during the Women’s World Cup 2023, Group D match against China at the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia PA Empty deckchairs during bad weather in Folkestone PA England’s Stuart Broad walks out to bat with James Anderson, after announcing his retirement from cricket the evening before, prior to day four of the Ashes 5th Test match against Australia at The Oval Getty People taking part in the 2023 Belfast Pride Parade PA Members of the Transmanian Devils rugby union team take part in their inaugural training boot camp at Sale Sports Club in Manchester AFP/Getty Rylan Clark recreates Kendall Jenner’s heart hair selfie to mark the launch of Samsung’s new nationwide selfie competition, offering entrants the chance to win £500,000 PA Campaigners, including many who are personally infected and affected by infected blood, gather in Westminster, London, calling for compensation for victims to be authorised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is giving evidence later to the Infected Blood inquiry PA Storm clouds gather over St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the north east coast of England PA Women embrace each other as one of them arrives at Gatwick Airport after being evacuated off the Greek island of Rhodes Reuters People enjoying the weather on Bournemouth beach in Dorset PA Newly elected Labour MP Keir Mather (left), with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Selby football club, North Yorkshire, after winning the Selby and Ainsty by-election PA Tony Blair (left) speaks with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s Future of Britain Conference in central London PA David Barber, the King’s Swan Marker, examines a swan during the annual census of the swan population along sections of the River Thames Reuters Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz holds the winner’s trophy after beating Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during their men’s singles final tennis match on the last day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships AFP/Getty Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur is interviewed in the Media Theatre in the Broadcast Centre after her defeat in the final of the Ladies’ Singles on day thirteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London PA Wire His Majesty The King’s Coronation Ensemble and Her Majesty The Queen’s Coronation Ensemble, during a photo call for the new Coronation display for the summer opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. PA Beavers are released by the National Trust at Wallington estate in Northumberland in a project to improve local biodiversity and mitigate the effects of climate change PA People hug as they admire Submergence inside Propyard, Bristol, where a 20,000 sq ft immersive art installation, curated by art collective Squidsoup, titled Beyond Submergence, is being exhibited PA Tracy Seven with a Beef Shorthorn as she prepares her cattle ahead of the Great Yorkshire Show at the Showground in Harrogate, which opens to the public on Tuesday. PA Mark Wood, right, celebrates with Chris Woakes, left after England won the third test match in the series AFP via Getty Zharnel Hughes of Shaftesbury celebrates after winning the Men’s 100m Final at the UK Athletics Championships at Manchester Regional Arena Getty Andy Murray of Great Britain plays a backhand against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the Men’s Singles second round match during day five of The Championships Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Getty Queen Camilla during a visit to Lochcarron of Scotland at the Waverley textile mill in Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders, as part of the first Holyrood Week since the King’s coronation. PA Anti-monarchy protesters hold placards near the St Giles’ Cathedral on the day of the National Service of Dedication and Thanksgiving for Britain’s King Charles, in Edinburgh Reuters Andy Murray celebrates break point against Ryan Peniston in their men’s singles first round match at Wimbledon Getty A cigar smoked by Winston Churchill, which is expected to fetch £600-800 is pictured on his statue in Westerham, Kent PA England’s Ben Stokes hits a six off the bowling of Australia’s Josh Hazlewood during the last day of the second Ashes test at Lords Cricket Ground in London Action Images via Reuters Pata Yamaha Prometeon rider Toprak Razgatiloglu followed by Aruba.It Racing – Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista (right) during the World SBK race 1 on day two of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2023 at Donington Park, Derby PA Rembrandt Harmensz’s Portrait of Jan Willemsz, van der Pluym and Jaapgen Carels is held by gallery staff, during a photo call for highlights from the forthcoming Classic Week Sales, at Christie’s, London. PA A visitor walks through a part of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s installation ‘You, Me and The Balloons’ during a preview ahead of the start of the Manchester International Festival Reuters England player Jonny Bairstow carries a ‘Just Stop Oil’ pitch invader during day one of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground Getty A Dolly Parton impersonator banned from Facebook protests outside the offices of parent company Meta in King’s Cross, London, as part of their ‘Stop Banning Us’ appeal Lucy North/PA Glastonbury site clean-up operation in progress PA Lil Nas X performs on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury AFP via Getty Chemical Brothers perform beneath the Arcadia spider in the very early morning at the Glastonbury Festival PA A performer entertains festivalgoers in the circus field at Glastonbury festival AFP/Getty Ladies Day at Royal Ascot Racecourse AP Katherine Jenkinson from Carlisle with her jersey calf in the wash bay at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, Edinburgh, ahead of the Royal Highland Show PA The sunrises at 04.25am at St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, on the North East coast of England, the day before Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year PA The King and Queen depart the annual Order of the Garter Service PA Typhoon fighter jets fly over The Mall after the Royal family attended the Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade, central London, as King Charles III celebrates his first official birthday since becoming sovereign. PA A peregrine falcon nesting at Malham Cove, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park PA Newborn alpaca Sir Steveo, who has been named after one of his keepers, ventures outside in the Pets Farm area of Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling PA Grace Kumar’s father and Barnaby Webber’s brother, Charlie, embrace ahead of a vigil at the University of Nottingham after they and Ian Coates were killed and another three hurt in connected attacks on 13 June PA Police forensics officers on Ilkeston Road PA People relax in a suspended swimming pool as hot weather continues, in London Reuters Usain Bolt and teammates celebrate with the trophy after winning Soccer Aid 2023 Action Images via Reuters ‘If the House nominated you, you had to attend. Thus when William Smith O’Brien refused to serve on a railway committee in 1846, the House had him detained overnight in the Clock Tower cell,” he wrote ‘A 10-day Commons suspension would trigger a recall petition, giving Dorries’ local constituents the chance to vote for a by-election.’ Rishi Sunak said this week that Ms Dorries constituents were not being properly represented while she remained in post. The prime minister this week told LBC radio: ‘I think people deserve to have an MP that represents them, wherever they are.’ ‘At the moment people aren’t being properly represented.’ Nadine Dorries Chris Bryant Parliament Nadine Dorries has not spoken in parliament for a year (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) PA Archive Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in