Nadine Dorries says she will be gone as MP before general election
EPAFormer culture secretary Nadine Dorries has confirmed she will "definitely be gone" as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire before the next general election.
Ms Dorries said the reason she had not yet stood down, despite announcing she was doing so on 9 June, was due to some outstanding documents.
"I'll be gone long before the next general election," she said on Talk TV, during an interview with Vanessa Feltz.
She left government in September when Boris Johnson stepped down as PM.
Speaking to Ms Feltz, the close ally of Mr Johnson, spoke about the committee of MPs which recently found he misled Parliament over Covid breaches at No 10.
"Defending the truth is incredibly important... it's not over yet, there's no committee of MPs that should be allowed to distort the truth," she said.
"I did not go to Westminster to watch processes take place, to watch statements made which are a corruption of the truth."
"And that's why I'm waiting at the moment. I've resigned, I've let people know I'm resigning, the next [Tory] candidate has been appointed."
Until Ms Dorries officially tenders her resignation, a by-election to replace her remains on hold.
She missed the deadline to resign for a by-election to take place in her constituency before Parliament's summer recess.
Despite her still being in post, at least seven candidates have said they would stand in a Mid Bedfordshire prospective by-election.
They include Festus Akinbusoye for the Conservatives, Dave Holland for Reform UK, with Emma Holland-Lindsay chosen to represent the Liberal Democrats.
The Greens plan to field Cade Sibley, while Labour has chosen Alistair Strathern.
Alan Victor is representing the True and Fair Party and Gareth Mackay plans to stand as an independent.
Ms Dorries told the TV presenter the privileges committee had proved that "MPs cannot mark their own homework", and that she would welcome an external body overseeing parliamentary processes.
She was among 10 Tories - including Dame Priti Patel and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg - who are accused of waging a co-ordinated campaign to interfere with a Commons investigation into Boris Johnson.
In a new report published on Wednesday, the committee accused the allies of Mr Johnson of mounting "vociferous attacks" on its work and interfering with the Partygate inquiry.
Born in Liverpool in 1957, Ms Dorries worked as a nurse before becoming an MP in 2005.
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