Boris Johnson’s most loyal ally has declared she will stay by his side, even if he is fined for breaking Covid laws over Partygate.
But Nadine Dorries did tonight set the threshold at which she’ll turn on the Prime Minister - if he kicks a dog.
Asked if she’ll “support others in withdrawing your support” for the PM, if he’s found to be criminally negligent, she told CNN: “No, absolutely not.”
But she insisted “of course there are” situations where she would abandon him.
“You know if he went up and, you know, kicked a dog, I'd probably withdraw my support for him,” she said.
“But no, based on, you know, his professional delivery for the UK, no, absolutely not”.
West Ham are investigating a video which showed the team’s Kurt Zouma kicking his cat amid public outrage.
A legal expert today said Boris Johnson could face more than £10,000 in lockdown fines as police prepare to write to more than 50 people over Partygate, starting this week.
Barrister Adam Wagner reminded the public that lockdown fines double on each occasion, so if Boris Johnson was fined over all six events he is thought to have attended, he could have to stump up large sums of money.
But Top Tory Ms Dorries tonight insisted “Remainers” or “people who never wanted him to be Prime Minister” want Mr Johnson gone, and they should “get behind the Prime Minister”.
Despite the Sue Gray report finding “failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office”, loyal defender Ms Dorries insisted: “She didn’t express a failure of leadership in Boris Johnson’s government at all.”
She added: “Has he failed in any way on delivering for the country, no he hasn’t.”
It is the latest in a string of ardent defences by Ms Dorries of Boris Johnson, who plucked her from the back benches and put her in his Cabinet.
She bristled “why are you asking me that question?” when asked if she’d spoken to the PM.
And she brushed off claims the PM was spreading “fake news” about Keir Starmer failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, shrugging and saying: “I don’t believe that’s the case.”
Earlier, one Tory MP elected in 2019 expressed bafflement.
"At one point Nadine seemed like she was trying to provoke letters to go in,” they said.
“Every time she tweeted, another few MPs told me they were more likely to put in a letter."
