Politics

Hilarity as David Cameron achieves what Nadine Dorries couldn’t

Hilarity as David Cameron achieves what Nadine Dorries couldn’t
'Government needs a kick in the pants', says Nadine Dorries
BBC Breakfast

As the general public continues to process a shock return to frontline politics for David Cameron, some have noticed that the former prime minister has succeeded where critic and ex-culture secretary Nadine Dorries failed – as he’s been handed a peerage.

Seeing as he is no longer an MP (he resigned as the member for Witney in 2016 after the Brexit referendum gave the result he didn’t want), Cameron has instead had “the dignity of a Barony of the United Kingdom for life” conferred upon him so that he can serve as foreign secretary.

The appointment was announced on Monday after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Suella Braverman as home secretary, sparking a reshuffle which saw James Cleverly moved from foreign secretary to home secretary and Cameron brought in to plug the gap.

Except the ex-PM’s fast-tracked appointment to the House of Lords will likely frustrate former Mid Bedfordshire MP Dorries, given she left parliament annoyed that she didn’t get a peerage in bestie Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Johnson had planned to make Dorries a peer, but had the plan rejected by the House of Lords Appointments Commission – or Holac, for short.

Dorries – who last week published her book The Plot on Boris Johnson’s “political assassination” - announced she would be resigning as an MP “with immediate effect” on 9 June, only to delay her departure for several months after sending subject access requests for information about her missing peerage.

She finally departed the Commons in August, triggering a by-election which saw Labour’s Alistair Strathern overturn a majority of more than 24,000 in October to turn the seat red.

Now, Twitter/X users are wondering what Dorries – who once branded Cameron and his chancellor George Osborne “arrogant posh boys” – makes of the former PM’s political comeback and peerage, with many sharing that one iconic clip from EastEnders:

And the TalkTV host and former I’m A Celebrity contestant shared her thoughts with Andrew Marr on LBC, saying: “It’s so easy for someone who went to Eton to be just popped into the House of Lords overnight, but if you went to a council school in Harewood and Liverpool, in a secondary modern, it’s not so easy.

“I think what this is about, really, is rehabilitating David Cameron. It’s rehabilitating his image so that he could get into the Lords.”

She, however, insisted it was not a case of “sour grapes”.

Are you sure, Nadine?

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)