Nadine Dorries treated the public to her latest in a long line of embarrassing blunders on Friday.

Speaking on the radio, the Culture Secretary indulged in some misinformation while claiming that Channel 5 had been privatised "a small number of years ago".

With that in mind, here's a look at some of her most cringe-worthy gaffes.

Getting it wrong on Channel 4

Back in November 2021, Dorries erroneously claimed that “Channel 4 was in receipt of public funds” while sitting in a select committee hearing.

She said: "I would argue that to say that, just because Channel 4′s been established as a public service broadcaster and just because it’s in receipt of public money, we should never audit the future of Channel 4 and we should never evaluate how Channel 4 looks in the future and whether or not it’s a sustainable and viable model.

“It’s quite right that the government should do that.”

The Culture Secretary was promptly corrected by MP Damian Green who explained that while the broadcaster was publicly owned, it was entirely funded by commercial operations. Stuttering in her response, Dorries wilted under Green’s scrutiny.

'Why are you asking me that question?'

Dorries was in rare form in an interview with BBC presenter Charlie Stayt during the earlier days of the partygate scandal.

Stayt prompted Dorries’s ire when he asked the simple question of whether the Culture Secretary had spoken to Boris Johnson in the last 24 hours.

She replied: “Why? Why are you asking me that question?”

 

Stayt followed up by saying: “I’m really confused. Is that a difficult question? I’m just asking if you’ve spoken to the Prime Minister in the last 24 hours,”

In an untalkative mood, Dorries bluntly responded: “We have communicated.”

The excruciatingly awkward exchange was punctuated by Dorries’s typically short and bullish answers to Stayt’s questioning, which she repeatedly criticised.

Claiming Boris Johnson 'tells the truth'

In a remarkable display of blind loyalty, Dorries defended the Prime Minister after he made false claims about Labour leader Keir Starmer. Johnson accused Starmer of failing to prosecute paedophile TV presenter Jimmy Savile while he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Speaking to Dorries afterwards, Channel 4 presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked: “How can you have a Prime Minister just repeating fake news like that?”

Brazenly deflecting from Guru-Murthy’s questioning, Dorries replied: “There were things that Keir Starmer said, as someone who was the former Director of Public Prosecutions, shouldn’t have said at the despatch box.”

Throughout the rest of the interview, she repeatedly claimed: “The Prime Minister tells truth.”

READ MORE: Scotland's missed oil opportunity highlighted amid Tory cost-of-living crisis

Channel 5 privatisation blunder

Most recently, Dorries wrongly stated on the radio that Channel 5 was “privatised a small number of years ago”.

Dorries said: "Do you know who has done that really well since they were privatised a small number of years ago, I think it was three years ago, five years ago maybe? Channel 5.

"If you look at the amount of investment Channel 5 puts into the regions and how well Channel 5 has done since it was privatised, I think that's a model. I call Channel 5 a levelling-up broadcaster."

Her mistake caught the attention of Pink News CEO Benjamin Cohen who pointed out on Twitter: "I love how Nadine Dorries justifies privatising Channel 4 by claiming that Channel 5 was privatised 3 to 5 years ago. Channel 5 launched in 1997 as a private business as a result of a franchise auction but I guess you couldn’t expect the Culture Secretary to know this."

Claiming to be a conduit of God

In a 2007 interview with Salvation Army publication War Cry, Dorries said: “I am not an MP for any reason other than because God wants me to be. There is nothing I did that got me here; it is what God did. There is nothing amazing or special about me, I am just a conduit for God to use.

“And who is Jesus to Nadine?”

Good question, Nadine.