Tory MP who called James O'Brien a 'public school posh boy f**kwit' sends daughter to same school as presenter

'I went to Ampleforth College. So did her daughter,' says LBC presenter

A Conservative MP has attacked James O’Brien for attending the same private school she sent her daughters to.

Nadine Dorries, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, called the LBC and Newsnight presenter a “public school posh boy f**k wit” on Twitter and hinted his privilege had given him an unfair advantage in the media.

O’Brien hit back and pointed out that he attended the same school as Ms Dorries’ two daughters. The school in question is Ampleforth College, a fee-paying Catholic boarding school in North Yorkshire.

The fiery row errupted after the pair appeared to get into a debate about the European Union. Ms Dorries, the first serving MP from a major political party to appear on a reality TV show, shared a since-deleted tweet by O’Brien and said: “I’m not sure if you understand how ridiculous that sounds”.

The Eurosceptic MP then claimed O’Brien had blocked her on the social media site. “Well James O'Brien the journalist has blocked me. Is that how supposedly impartial journalists operate at LBC by blocking MPs?”

She added: “To be fair, I think the fact that O'Brien is a public school posh boy f**k wit, has more to do with it than his being a journo".

O’Brien, who has garnered a large fanbase over the years, then sought to defend himself, saying: “This woman is an MP. I went to Ampleforth College. So did her daughter.”

Ms Dorries did not attempt to deny the fact her daughter had attended the school and alerted him to the fact both of her daughters had in fact gone there.

O’Brien is open about his education and sometimes jokingly refers to himself as a “champagne socialist”. Talk radio has long been dominated by right-wing pundits and O’Brien, who has clashed with members of the public over Brexit, is one of the few presenters on the left.

On the contrary, Ms Dorries is on the right of the Conservative Party and back in 2008 she introduced an unsuccessful private members bill to reduce the time limit for abortions in the UK. O’Brien is not the only person who the MP has called out for their upbringing, she previously called former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and George Osborne “two arrogant posh boys”.

Ms Dorries was suspended from the Tory Party in 2012 over to her decision to take part in I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! without telling the Chief Whip but was later readmitted to the party. Known for her flamboyant personality, Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman referred to "how she stands out in Parliament – a tropical bird in amongst all that dull, grey, plumage on the Commons benches."

Ms Dorries and O’Brien did not immediately respond to request for comment.