Nadine Dorries reveals impact of being abused by Church of England vicar

20 November 2024, 19:57 | Updated: 20 November 2024, 21:16

Former Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has said her experience of being abused as a child "ruined" her life.

The former culture secretary has spoken about how she had been abused by a Church of England vicar when she was just nine years old.

In a recent column for the Daily Mail, Ms Dorries said she had only begun to come to terms with the abuse in her 50s.

And speaking to the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, she revealed it was something she still found hard to talk about.

"It ruins your life," she said. "I feel it's ruined my life."

Ms Dorries said her "biggest sadness" was that she never opened up about the abuse she suffered to her husband, Paul, who died in June 2019 of bowel cancer.

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"I think the big sadness for me is that I never discussed it with my husband. Never," she said.

"And he's gone now, and I can't discuss it with him. And I think that's the biggest sadness for me."

Ms Dorries said she still does not discuss the abuse she suffered with her three adult daughters - although they are aware of what happened.

She told Ridge her youngest daughter encouraged her to write and talk more about her experiences.

"I said, 'I can't, I don't like doing it'. And she said, 'it's nothing to be ashamed of'."

The former culture secretary, who has also written several novels and non-fiction books, wrote her article after Justin Welby resigned as the Archbishop of Canterbury in the wake of a damning report found the Church of England covered up sexual abuse by a barrister.

The independent Makin review into John Smyth's abuse of children and young men was published last week.

Smyth is said to have subjected as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.

The report concluded he might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported it to police soon after he was installed as archbishop 11 years ago. Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while still under investigation by Hampshire Police.

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In his resignation, Mr Welby said: "The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuse of John Smyth.

"When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.

"It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and re-traumatising period between 2013 and 2024."

The full interview with Nadine Dorries will be aired on the Politics Hub on Thursday at 7pm.

(c) Sky News 2024: Nadine Dorries reveals impact of being abused by Church of England vicar