Cabinet minister mixes up two Tory MPs in defence of Boris Johnson

Nadine Dorries confused two Conservative backbenchers who share a surname.

Conservative MP Matt Vickers speaking in the House of Commons (Jessica Taylor/PA) (PA Media)

The Culture Secretary has mixed up two backbench Tory MPs while defending Boris Johnson against calls for him to resign.

Nadine Dorries praised Red Wall 2019 MP “Martin Vickers” for being “out there supporting the Prime Minister listing on Channel 4 News the other night the huge number of funding and initiatives that he’s delivered in his constituency”.

But it appears Ms Dorries meant to refer to Matt Vickers, who was elected to the Stockton South seat in 2019, rather than his Cleethorpes colleague, Martin Vickers.

Martin Vickers (PA) (PA Media)

Ms Dorries was responding to comments made about the Prime Minister by Conservative MPs Nick Gibb and Aaron Bell, who have both submitted letters of no confidence in the PM.

She said their interventions were “disappointing” but said those in “marginal seats” knew Mr Johnson had won them the election.

She was then asked about the 2019 intake on Red Wall MPs – of which Mr Bell is one in his Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.

But the Culture Secretary said: “So you want to cite Aaron Bell, again disappointing, I’ll talk about Martin Vickers, who’s up in the far North of England in South Tees.

“I’ll talk about Martin Vickers who is out there supporting the Prime Minister, listing on Channel 4 News the other night the huge number of funding and initiatives that he’s delivered in his constituency.”

On Friday, Ms Dorries had retweeted the Channel 4 interview, in which Matt Vickers had said: “Teesside’s got a lot to be happy about.”

She said at the time: “Well done @Matt_VickersMP A Conservative Government pumping in £s to regenerate our Northern regions. #levellingup”

Martin Vickers is the MP for Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire and has been an MP since 2010.

He currently has a majority of 21,418.

Matt Vickers is the MP for Stockton South (majority 5,260), in the Tees Valley, and was elected in 2019.