Grimsby MP Lia Nici misses out on seat in Lords - but her loyalty to Boris remains undimmed

Loyalty - or hero worship? The Grimsby MP's tweet

                                          

GRIMSBY MP Lia Nici today found herself at the centre of a Twitter storm of her own making after posting a tweet about former Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Just hours after he announced that he had quit the parliament, with immediate effect, Ms Nici took to social media.

In a message that she must have known would be provocative, she wrote: "An incredibly sad day for democracy - Boris Johnson has done more for Grimsby than any other politician in generations."

Sure enough there was an immediate backlash with a barrowload of criticism both about Mr Johnson and about her.

The Grimsby MP has been the most loyal ally of  Mr Johnson, defending him through thick and thin however serious his alleged misdemeanours.

In return, he promoted her - first to being one of his parliamentary private secretaries, then, in his last days, as PM, to a junior post in the Government.

It was  thought Mr Johnson might nominate her for an honour as a reward for her loyalty which, to some, seemed to border on hero worship. 

Ms Nici would doubtless have welcomed a seat in the House of Lords given that her prospects of retaining her seat in the Commons at the next General Election seem slim.

In the event, she has  missed out. The cronyism would have been too patent.

However, though doubtless disappointed, Ms Nici's loyalty remains unshaken - hence today's contentious tweet.

                                          

The backlash