Labour takes Nadine Dorries’ former seat in Mid Bedfordshire byelection
Labour takes Nadine Dorries’ former seat in Mid Bedfordshire byelection
Alistair Strathern overturns huge Tory majority to win seat vacated by former culture secretary
Dorries said she would stand down as an MP with immediate effect in early June. However, she later refused to do so until she was given an explanation for the lack of a peerage. It was not until 26 August – more than 11 weeks after she initially said she would – that Dorries formally resigned.
The immaturity is staggering. An actual adult throwing an 11 week tantrum because they feel entitled to a medieval honor.
The world over, conservatives are spoilt children.
The whole fact that am MP, can refuse to work for 11 weeks, With no valid excuse. Shows just how out of touch the whole system has become. If MPs are ill or away for work. They arrange cover for voting. Its annoyingly informal. But most try to give a shit.
The whole of the UK left and right. Should be up in fucking arms over this womans ability to leave her constituants without representation.
What the hell other job could anyone be hired for where this is acceptable. MPs should be required to attend parliament for a working week. or account for the hours they do not. Or be replaced.
And during those 11 weeks she refused to do her actual job.
The MP for my region is a Tory as well and he's absolutely sodding useless, and is well versed in the art of taking credit for other people's projects, but even he holds surgeries which is more than she was doing at the end.
The world over, conservatives are spoilt children.
True. See also: the losing Tory in Mid Beds storming out after the count. Pathetic behaviour!
She has insisted Sunak blocked a peerage she believed she was about to be awarded by Johnson – an allegation the current prime minister has denied.
I mean.... if true that's a baller move 🤣. Screw her she doesn't deserve any respect. WTF she doesn't turn up to work and expects a peerage? Sheeeeeeiiiiit.
Honestly it looks like Johnson just screwed up the paperwork and no one could be bothered to help him.
Don't expect a moral stance from anyone in the government.
I thought the problem was that she didn't want to stand down as an MP but did want a peerage when she eventually stood down at the election? Which is not possible as once you make someone a peer then they're a peer, and you can't sit in both houses at the same time. She basically wanted them to announce now that she'll become a peer in a year or two, which they can't do.
So she threw a massive tantrum and resigned now anyway - which, if she'd been willing to do in the first place, might have meant she could have actually got the Boris crony peerage that she wanted.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Labour have won the Mid Bedfordshire byelection, overturning a huge majority and delivering a significant blow to Rishi Sunak’s hopes of holding on to power at the next general election – expected to be in 2024.
Alistair Strathern takes the parliamentary seat vacated by the former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, beating the candidate hoping to hold it for the Conservatives, Festus Akinbusoye.
Strathern also held off competition from the Liberal Democrats, who refused to cede ground to Labour, insisting they had a genuine chance of winning the seat themselves.
Speaking as the results were announced, Starmer said: “Voters across Mid Bedfordshire, Tamworth and Britain want a Labour government determined to deliver for working people, with a proper plan to rebuild our country.
She has insisted Sunak blocked a peerage she believed she was about to be awarded by Johnson – an allegation the current prime minister has denied.
The lengthy delay, and the increasing sense in some quarters that Dorries was an absentee MP, opened an avenue for rival parties to overturn the huge majority.
The original article contains 603 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
He's doing the thumbs!
What happens if a party loses its majority from a byelection result? Does it trigger a general election?
We're still some way off that, unfortunately! The Tories would have to lose another 26 by-elections, which doesn't seem likely.
It has actually happened before: John Major lost his (much smaller) 1992 majority when Labour won the Wirral South byelection, albeit this was only a couple of months before he had to hold a GE by law anyway. Of course, he still clung on to the bitter end before, in an encouraging precedent for Labour and the country, losing in a landslide.
[email protected] is correct that the Opposition parties would then have to win a Vote of No Confidence (VONC). I suspect the NI unionist parties would still vote to keep Sunak in power in that situation, but who knows? Probably this late in the Parliament, Starmer, like Blair in '97, would choose to just wait till the GE rather than calling a VONC he might not win.
Not automatically. But most likely yes.
General elections happen when gov calls. Or opposision parties can win a no confidence vote. So if the tories has 1 short of a majority. Election would become more likely but require other parties to call and vote the gov down. Of course some may support the gov. Or form a new gov.