Doris says that if Liz Truss wants a whole new mandate, she should ask the people for it
Former British culture minister Nadine Doris has said the new prime minister, Liz Terrace, must call a general election if she is to abandon the Conservative policies set by her predecessor Boris Johnson.
Doris resigned as culture minister when she succeeded Truss as prime minister, although she had backed Truss in the race for the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party.
In a tweet, the former minister claimed that Truss had halted policies she had previously advocated.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, Secretary of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and another Johnson loyalist, said he disagreed with Dorries’ call for a general election.
In her tweet, Doris highlighted areas of her responsibility that have been paused, including the sale of Channel 4 TV and the Internet Safety Bill.
“There is widespread dissatisfaction with the fact that three years of work have been put on hold,” she wrote.
She added: “No one asked for it. The sale of Channel 4, the safety on the Internet, the review of the BBC’s licensing fees, all signed by the Council of Ministers, all ready for implementation, and all stopped.”
“If Liz wants a whole new mandate,” she said, she should ask the people for it.
Trass had asked Doris to remain as culture minister, but she chose instead to return to the back benches of Parliament when the new prime minister took office.
Doris criticized the incumbent prime minister recently, accusing her on Sunday of sacrificing Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarting by blaming him for the tax cut disaster for the highest-income group.
Reese-Mogg said he and “brilliant” Doris would agree on “nearly everything” in Parliament.
But he added, “I don’t think there will be immediate elections and I don’t think there is a need for that.”
Speaking at a sideline meeting during the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, he told The Telegraph that the current deadline for holding the election is January 2025.
“There is nothing quite like a good winter election,” he joked.