Nadine Dorries has tearfully announced she will be standing down as a Conservative MP at the next election - despite Boris Johnson begging her not to.

The former culture secretary said the decision had followed “much soul-searching” as she warned the Tories’ poll ratings under Rishi Sunak were “terminal”.

It takes to 18 the number of Conservatives who have said they will not be fighting to retain their seats.

Earlier on Thursday, another Tory MP, Jo Gideon, said she would not be standing again in Stoke-on-Trent, which she took narrowly in 2019.

Ms Dorries’ announcement comes just a week after she started a new presenting job on Talk TV, Friday Night with Nadine.

It has been reported that Mr Johnson has recommended her for a peerage in his resignation honours list, although this has not yet been confirmed.

Ms Dorries, a former nurse, has been MP for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005. She has a majority of 24,664.

In a clip released in advance of her show, she said Mr Johnson had begged her to stay on as an MP.

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