Nadine Dorries is facing calls to have the Tory whip suspended after the UK’s top civil servant revealed she could face legal action over “threatening” messages sent to officials.
Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, told MPs on Wednesday he had reported the former culture secretary to the Tory chief whip and the Commons Speaker.
He told the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee (PACAC) he had also sought “advice” on whether Dorries had broken the law.
Dorries announced last month she would quit parliament after her hopes of being handed a seat in the House of Lords were dashed.
The close ally of Boris Johnson had expected to be given a peerage by the former prime minister in his resignation honours list.
But she accused “posh” Rishi Sunak of blocking her elevation to the Lords - something Downing Street has strongly denied.
Despite her dramatic announcement to quit she has yet to actually formally stand down as an MP.
Will Wragg, the Tory chair of the PACAC, asked Case today if he was “aware of any rather forceful communications” from by the “lingering member for Mid Bedfordshire”.
He said Dorries had sent “threatening” messages to senior civil servants that she would “use the platform of the Commons and her own TV programme to get to the bottom of why she hadn’t been given a peerage”.
Case said: “Yes I was aware of those communications and have flagged them both to the chief whip and Speaker of the House.”
Asked if he had taken taken legal advice on whether Dorries had broken the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925, Case said he was “seeking further advice on that question” and had “taken initial advice but asked for more”.
Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said: “These allegations are staggering and it’s crucial a swift investigation takes place into whether Nadine Dorries may have broken the law.
“Not only is Dorries failing to represent the people of Mid Bedfordshire, but now it emerges she has allegedly sent threatening messages to civil servants.
“The least Rishi Sunak can do is suspend her by withdrawing the Conservative whip while any investigation takes place.”
Dorries has been contacted for comment.
Earlier today, HarperCollins announced it would be publishing a book by Dorries telling the “seismic untold story” of how Johnson was the victim of a “political assassination”.