TORY MP Nadine Dorries is facing a campaign to force her out of Parliament if she fails to attend for six months.
The move is being spearheaded by Labour MP, and head of the Standard’s Committee, Chris Bryant – in proposals reported by the FT.
Bryant said he wanted to see the comeback of a rule from 1801 that stated “no member do presume to go out of town without leave of this House,” to try and force through a by-election.
This comes after Dorries saying that she was going to stand down as MP for Mid Bedfordshire in June, but then said she wouldn’t resign until she got more information about why she was denied a peerage.
She hasn’t spoken in the Commons since July 2022 and her last vote was in April. Six months on from her last vote would be October 26.
As has recently been seen in Scotland, if MPs approve a suspension of 10 days or more a by-election can be trigged, where voters have the chance to oust their MP.
Bryant acknowledged his move could become “completely unnecessary” if Dorries chose to resign and provoke a by-election herself.
There are no sanctions for those who earn the baseline salary of £86,580 for not participating in the House of Commons.
Bryant said: "Why should you be allowed to draw a salary and claim expenses for your staff and all that kind of stuff if you're not actually doing the job of turning up?"
Criticising Dorries as an “absentee MP”, Bryant added that when MP’s returned to parliament after recess it would "perfectly legitimate ... to table a motion saying the member for Mid Bedfordshire — and, for that matter, anybody else who hasn’t turned up for six months — must attend by such-and-such a date or will be suspended from the House for 10 sitting days or more”.
Bryant explained the proposals in his new book, Code of Conduct: Why We Need to Fix Parliament – and How to Do It, which he says he has presented to the Government and Labour whips.
In it he explained the rule: “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.”
