Rishi Sunak is refusing to boot Nadine Dorries out of the Tories even though she has gone AWOL from Parliament.
The ex-minister is still entitled to her £84,000 MP salary even though she has not spoken in the Commons for almost eight months.
Instead of doing her day job, the Boris Johnson superfan has been busy trying to become a TV star.
The PM today condemned Mrs Dorries’ failure to represent her Mid Bedfordshire constituency in Parliament.
Mr Sunak’s press secretary said he “obviously would want any Tory MP to be carrying out their duties on behalf of their constituents and those that vote for them”.
However, he has failed to take disciplinary action against her.
Mrs Dorries last spoke in the Commons on July 7, which was the day Mr Johnson announced he would resign as PM. She was still culture secretary at the time.
Since the summer, she has only voted on two days. She supported tax changes brought in as part of the Autumn Statement on November 22 and then took part in votes on the Levelling Up Bill the next day.
Tory sources have suggested if she does not want to do her job, “she should hand back her MP salary and let someone else do it”.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper has said she is “taking the people of Mid Bedfordshire for granted” and called on Mr Sunak to “have the guts to remove the Conservative whip”.
The former I’m A Celebrity contestant, 65, last month (FEB) began presenting a weekly television show on Friday nights on Talk TV. She has not yet declared how much she is getting paid for the gig.
Her first guest on her programme was Mr Johnson, who she has described as “one of the world’s greatest leaders” and a “political rock star”.
Mrs Dorries is expected to be rewarded for her loyalty to the disgraced ex-PM with a seat in the House of Lords.
She has announced she will step down as an MP at the next election.
Mrs Dorries has not responded to requests to comment.
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