NADINE Dorries, the maverick Tory MP, has raised the possibility of standing on a joint Conservative-Ukip ticket at the next General Election, a prospect swiftly dismissed by her party's high command.
Last week, the backbencher was welcomed back into the Conservative parliamentary party after her suspension following an unauthorised trip to the jungle for I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here! but within 24 hours duly announced she would rebel on the European Union referendum issue.
Yesterday, Ms Dorries revealed she intended to speak to her local party in Mid Bedfordshire about standing as a joint Tory-Ukip candidate at the 2015 election and claimed other Conservative eurosceptics were considering following suit.
The backbencher made clear she was not seeking adoption by Ukip but its "endorsement so they don't put a candidate up against you at the next election".
A Tory spokesman responded coolly, saying: "This is not party policy and it's not going to happen."
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