Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has hit back at her unkind nickname “Mad Nad” saying it is “sexist”.
Dorries, who was promoted in Boris Johnson’s recent reshuffle, said people who called her that were “disparaging and trivialising mental health”.
She also revealed that a journalist recently called her and apologised for using the term.
Previous press reports claimed some MPs, including ones on her own side, had called her “Mad Nad”.
Speaking to the Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics podcast, she said: “That again is very sexist....it’s just easy isn’t it? And they’ll do it in other ways about other women too.
“I find that something about the media I’m afraid which is pretty appalling.
“It’s something that the media indulge in because you’re a journalist and you want a quick headline, then why not do that?”
She added: “A journalist rang me recently and apologised.”
The MP for Mid Bedfordshire also spoke out about the abuse she faced online, adding: “I get tonnes of it.
“It’s not just online abuse, there’s just some pretty nasty stuff that comes in the post.
“Some pretty awful death threats, I had a stalker for years.
“If my daughters said to me ‘should we go into politics?’ I’d probably say ‘no don’t’ because some of it’s really horrendous.”
She made the comments during a fringe meeting at Conservative party conference.