Nadine Dorries 'among list of names' on Boris Johnson's honours list

Nadine Dorries has been nominated for a peerage by Boris Johnson, it has been reported.

She is said to be on a list of names in line for House of Lords selection as part of former prime minister Johnson's resignation honours list.

Dorries served as culture secretary in Johnson's cabinet and has been one of his most ardent long-term supporters.

The Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that she is among a host of names in line for the House of Lords.

Watch: Nadine Dorries says Boris Johnson 'most successful PM in a generation'

A controversial figure, Dorries, the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005, was criticised at the end of July after she retweeted a mock-up image showing current prime minister Rishi Sunak stabbing Johnson in the back.

In 2018, after Johnson had written his infamous Daily Telegraph column saying that Muslim women in burkas "look like letter boxes", Dorries defended him, saying he "did not go far enough".

Last month, she called Johnson “one of the world's best leaders”.

Read more: Nadine Dorries says she'd stop supporting Boris Johnson 'if he kicked a dog'

Dorries sparked controversy a decade ago when she appeared on 2012's edition of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

She was suspended from the Tory party whip because of her brief appearance on the show, but had it reinstated the following year.

In October last year, Dorries spoke of her regret at voting against the introduction of same-sex marriage in 2013.

She told LBC Radio: "I felt as though I had voted against love, really, and that was not a comfortable feeling. If I could just turn the clock back, I absolutely would, and I would change that vote."

Dorries has also been criticised for her role in the so-called "culture wars", in which she has regularly taken aim at those with the opposing political viewpoint.

In 2017, she tweeted: “Left wing snowflakes are killing comedy, tearing down historic statues, removing books from universities, dumbing down panto, removing Christ from Christmas and suppressing free speech."

The Times said Dorries, Scotland secretary Alister Jack, former junior cabinet office minister Nigel Adams and former energy secretary Alok Sharma are the four Tory MPs in line for peerages under Johnson's resignation honours list.

About 20 people have been nominated, the newspaper said, including former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, whose nomination to the Lords was dropped from a previous list.

Johnson has also nominated two of his past advisers, Ross Kempsell, 30, and Charlotte Owen, believed to be in her late 20s, who would become the youngest life peers in history.

The former prime minister has asked the nominated MPs to delay taking them up so they do not trigger by-elections in their constituencies, The Times said.

Last month, the same newspaper reported that four of Johnson's peerage nominations had been rejected by the House of Lords.

The Appointments Commission blocked the applications, with its chair, Lord Bew, criticising party leaders for proposing "unsuitable" candidates, even though they pass the propriety test, The Times said.

Johnson has previously been criticised for making Russian-born businessman Evgeny Lebedev, the son of a former KGB agent, a crossbench peer in 2020.

Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said on Tuesday he believes the House of Lords is due for reform.

He told Times Radio: “The House of Commons probably as a body generally would not be happy with the size of the House of Lords, the fact that... what is effectively an undemocratic body perhaps has a role in certain areas that it does."

Watch: Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries lay cable for broadband on Dorset visit