Nadine Dorries steps down as culture secretary 

Nadine Dorries

Following the exit of British prime minister Boris Johnson, controversial culture secretary Nadine Dorries has announced her resignation from the role.

The Daily Mail had reported that Dorries was offered to stay in the role, but the MP for Mid Bedfordshire served her notice hours after Liz Truss won the Conservative leadership contest. Her replacement will be the seventh culture secretary in the space of five years.

Dorries, who was appointed to the role less than 12 months ago, is expected to be given a peerage in Johnson’s resignation honours list – a move which would give the outspoken BBC critic a permanent position in the House of Lords.

The MP’s tenure as culture secretary will be remembered most within the TV industry for her aggressive campaigning to privatise Channel 4 in spite of wide opposition from producers and the broadcaster itself. Some speculated that Dorries used her position to target C4 after she made unfounded claims about a documentary programme in which she featured, something she denies.

Tory MPs Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch, two Truss loyalists, have been tipped to serve as the next secretary for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.