Watch: Reactions as Nadine Dorries says Johnson is ‘most successful prime minister in generation’

Nadine Dorries said the Conservatives would “regret” booting him out of office and said he is ‘most successful prime minister in a generation,’ yes really.

In an interview on the BBC’s Newsnight, Dorries – one of Johnson’s staunchest supporters – said: “We’ll regret removing him as prime minister – one of our most successful, in fact, our most successful prime minister in a generation.”

She played down Johnson’s partygate fine, the minister said: “I’m sure there are lots of prime ministers who have received fixed penalty notices for lots of things – speeding, no?

It’s a fixed penalty notice, I’ve certainly had two, so I’ll hold my hands up to them.”

Laughing, Dorries added: “Sorry, I didn’t have fixed penalty notices for partyate. They were for speeding.”