The culture secretary has been one of the Prime Minister’s staunchest supporters, sticking by him even as support for his leadership collapsed in Westminster. Ms Dorris told BBC Panorama: “I was very surprised that there were people who thought that removing the prime minister who won the biggest majority we’ve had since Margaret Thatcher in less than three years. “Just the undemocratic nature of what they’re doing was enough to worry me. “It was a coup for me too.” Ms Dorris made the same claim on Monday, when she also criticized those who moved against Johnson. “14 million people voted for the Prime Minister and a group of MPs, ministers, the Chancellor, his acting chancellor, through what is effectively a coup, removed him,” he told GB News. Mrs Dorris has thrown her weight behind Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the Tory leadership contest to choose Johnson’s successor in No 10. He led an attack on Ms Truss’s rival Rishi Sunak, whose resignation as chancellor last week is seen by Johnson’s allies as crucial to ending the prime minister’s reign in No 10. Ms Dorries accused Mr Sunak’s campaign team of using the “dark arts” after claims they tried to “displace” votes to ensure Jeremy Hunt got over the threshold to take part in the contest because they believed Mr .Sunak would beat him in the second round. party members. Sajid Javid (Stephane Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire) Sajid Javid, whose resignation as health secretary came within minutes of Mr Sunak’s resignation, sparking a mass ministerial exodus that led to Johnson admitting his time was up, denied the move was co-ordinated . Mr Javid told Panorama: “We hadn’t had any discussions about it. I had a feeling that other people would follow.” Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is backing Ms Truss in the race, said she should not ask Johnson to serve in her cabinet if she wins. “He has no desire to wear a straitjacket around himself, he has to run according to the wishes of others,” he told LBC radio.
