Dorries departs from DCMS

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has announced she is stepping down.

During her year-long tenure, Dorries instructed Arts Council England (ACE) to redistribute funding outside of London as part of the government’s levelling-up agenda, advocated for a BBC licence fee freeze and the privatisation of Channel 4 and gave reassurance the abolition of ACE is “not on the government agenda”.

Her departure comes despite incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss asking her to stay in the role.

“I am humbled that Liz Truss extended her confidence in me by asking me to remain as Secretary of State for DCMS. I will always show her the same loyalty and support I have to Boris Johnson,” Dorries wrote on Twitter.

According to the BBC, Dorries is resigning to return to writing books. She is expected to be given a peerage in Johnson’s resignation honours list, triggering a by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Truss is expected to announce a new Culture Secretary in the coming days, marking the eleventh appointment to the role in the last ten years.