Nadine Dorries claims in her new book that the Tories have been controlled for 20 years by a cabal known as the “movement”, which orchestrated the end of Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister.
The former culture secretary claimed the group consisted of secretary Michael Gove, Johnson’s former chief of staff Dominic Cummings and an adviser called Dougie Smith.
Dorries, a staunch Johnson ally, said the cabal ousted the former prime minister and also “brought down Iain Duncan Smith as party leader, wreaked havoc for Theresa May and undermined Liz Truss”.
The former MP’s book, The Plot: the Political Assassination, is serialized in the Mail. According to extracts from the newspaper, Dorries wrote that after Johnson named Cummings his chief of staff, the so-called “movement” began its plan to replace the prime minister after his December 2019 election victory, because he had already achieved its goal by winning a majority of 80 seats.
A source told Dorries: “It was obvious that on Friday morning, the day after the December 2019 election victory, they (the movement) were furious.
“Boris had won too big. They felt like the trust they gave him would make it harder to control him, and in a way they were right. Boris constantly pushed them all away; and this made them both determined and furious.
Dorries, who was appointed Culture Secretary by Johnson, wrote: “In 2019 they needed Boris to save them from all the evil they had been responsible for. The person they had nominated to be Prime Minister, Rishi, just wasn’t ready, but once Boris had come in and given them a large majority, it was time to get him out. He had achieved his goal.
Johnson, who resigned as prime minister in July 2022, is quoted in the book describing an “unexpected and quite unpleasant” phone call in 2021 from Smith, the Conservative adviser.
The former prime minister said: “I remember where I was when the call came; I was upstairs in the apartment, in the kitchen…he said, “I think you should go, you should get out now and maybe we’ll let you come back someday.” You are poison, like Nixon. If you don’t go, I’ll take you down. I’m going to finish you off.’
Dorries resigned her seat in the House of Commons in August and accused Rishi Sunak of “humiliating his office” by speaking out against her, two and a half months after first announcing his intention to resign from his seat. position as MP for Mid Bedfordshire in protest at not receiving a peerage.
According to the excerpts, Dorries wrote that the negative briefings about Carrie Johnson were part of the strategy to destabilize Johnson, because they perceived his wife “as an obstacle to their plan for total control.”
She added: “They wanted to put so much pressure on the relationship that Carrie would leave. They tried at all costs to cause trouble in the house, to make them feel vulnerable, afraid and dependent on them. These are mind games and they are good at it.
Cummings responded to the allegations by sarcastically telling the Daily Mail: “She’s right, there was a giant conspiracy including MI6, the CIA and, most importantly, the KGB special operations department. It’s a tribute to Nadine, she understood that. The movement wishes him good luck.
A source close to Gove told the newspaper: “Nadine is a very talented bestselling fiction writer. »
