Carol Vorderman reveals Tory MPs call her ‘Botoxed, pumped up… awful things’

Carol Vorderman has opened up about the abuse she receives from Tory MPs, who call her “Botoxed, pumped up… awful things”.

The former Countdown star said she ignores the jibes as a “distraction”, but really she “should complain” about the remarks.

And Ms Vorderman, who became an outspoken critic of the Conservatives over the awarding of Covid contracts, vowed to continue fighting the party until they are out of office.

“If our kids are to have a future, we must kick them out,” she said.

Speaking to The Times, Ms Vorderman added: “If I can make a difference I’ll do everything I can to make that difference.”

Discussing her transition into a social media firebrand taking on the Tory party, Ms Vorderman said it started with her former “friend” Michelle Mone – who was accused of “bullying” officials into awarding £200million of PPE contracts to a firm she later received millions from.

Baroness Mone has denied any wrongdoing.

But Ms Vorderman said: “There were wonderful people, good human beings, trying to help other human beings, yet for others it was a time of immense greed. I can’t get my head round it.”

This week, Tory chairman Greg Hands this week called for Ms Vorderman to apologise for posting “defamatory and damaging” tweets about his involvement in a lifestyle firm being awarded a £25.8 million PPE contract in 2020.

She is said to have deleted a number of tweets about Mr Hands and posted a new statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday, saying there was “no impropriety on his part”.

Mr Hands has posted on the social media site to say he is “delighted” the tweets have been removed and called for Vorderman to apologise. Ms Vorderman said: “While the awarding of this contract was unfortunate, and there remain serious questions about the VIP Lane, I’m happy to accept Mr Hands’ assurance that his role in the process was simply to refer the approach to the JACT, and that there was no impropriety on his part.”

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Describing her opposition to the Conservatives, she said: “This isn’t about politics. It’s about corruption. It’s about a code of conduct. People’s faith in politics is at an all-time low. In the past we might not have agreed with someone’s politics, but we weren’t being abusive while creaming off the top.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Ms Vorderman launched a stinging attack on the Conservative party, saying: “They tried to persuade us we weren’t bothered about Partygate, and we were bothered and are not forgetting it.

“And also the VIP lane [where some companies with links to politicians were fast-tracked for PPE contracts during the pandemic] is massively emotional, as it bloody well should be.”

And while she receives abuse from Tories, including former MP Edwina Currie and Felicity Cornelius-Mercer, whose husband is minister Johnny Mercer, she said people come up to her “every day” to say “I bloody love what you do”.