NADINE Dorries and two other Conservative MPs could trigger by-elections in a move to spite Rishi Sunak’s government for reporting Boris Johnson to the police over fresh allegations he broke lockdown rules.
Speaking in The Telegraph, a Johnson ally said they believe there is a possibility of three by-elections taking place as a result of new scrutiny into whether Johnson broke coronavirus restrictions while serving as prime minister.
They said: “If it transpires that the Government has tried to report Boris to the police for entirely lawful activity just for political purposes then I’d expect three by-elections to take place.”
It is believed the by-elections could be triggered by Johnson loyalists Nadine Dorries, Nigel Adams and Alok Sharma ahead of the next General Election.
All three are set to step back from parliament to take up peerages granted by Johnson in his resignation honours, with the fiercely loyal Dorries already setting herself up as presenter on Talk TV and regularly criticising Sunak.
But the triggering of an early by-election in any seat would pose considerable challenges for the Tories, who are languishing behind Labour in the polls.
It comes after the chair of the UK Covid Inquiry, Heather Hallett, told the Cabinet Office that it could face “criminal sanctions” unless it discloses thousands of unredacted documents, including WhatsApp messages from Boris Johnson.
The government has been given until 4pm on May 30 to release the documents in full.
