Rishi Sunak was a 'bad Chancellor who served himself not the country', Nadine Dorries tells LBC

23 November 2023, 21:37 | Updated: 23 November 2023, 22:58

Nadine Dorries has claimed that the UK was "badly served" by Rishi Sunak during his time as Chancellor.

Mr Sunak was Chancellor under Boris Johnson, of whom Ms Dorries was a staunch supporter during his time in Downing Street.

The former Culture Secretary, who stepped down from the House of Commons this year, has previously been very critical of Mr Sunak, who she accused of undermining Mr Johnson.

Ms Dorries told LBC's Iain Dale: "I think the country's been badly served by a previous Chancellor who stopped policies because he didn't want them attributed to the-then Prime Minister".

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Rishi Sunak was a 'bad Chancellor', Nadine Dorries tells LBC

She said this was "because he knew what was coming down the tracks in terms of his own movement into that place."

Ms Dorries added: "I think Rishi Sunak as Chancellor served Rishi Sunak and didn't serve the country. He served his own personal ambition and not the people, or the country, or the party."

It's sometimes been rumoured that Mr Johnson, who left Downing Street in 2022, is plotting a political comeback.

But Ms Dorries said: "I honestly don't think he wants to. I just think he's really enjoying life".

She said that she wasn't sure if he was planning to campaign for Mr Sunak and the Conservatives at the next general election.

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In contrast to her criticism of the Prime Minister, Ms Dorries spoke warmly of Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

She said of Ms Reeves: "Women do take public service I think sometimes more seriously, and do jobs for the right reasons."

She said that she had always found the Shadow Chancellor to be a "thoroughly decent, nice person".

But she stopped short of saying she would vote Labour in the next election, implying instead that she might simply not vote.

Ms Dorries said: "'I've sacrificed a lot to be a Conservative ... what I would rather do is rebuild the Conservative Party ... with decent, good people and to be rid of some of the toxic behaviours we have at the moment in the party."