Facts

In a tweet published on May 3rd 2021, Nadine Dorries said:  “@BorisJohnson has delivered #Brexit #tradedeals and jobs for #Hartlepool along with a #freeport and 180,000 well paid jobs.”

According to the latest census data, Hartlepool only has 92,028 residents.

Dorries seemingly misquoted a Budget announcement by chancellor Rishi Sunak, which promised to deliver 18,000 jobs in the area when a new Freeport is set up.

It is also likely that the jobs will be spread across the wider Teesside area, rather than just in Hartlepool.

The Mayor of Tees Valley, of which Hartlepool is part, had promised “18,000 jobs with the Teesside Freeport”. It is possible that Dorries misquoted this 18,000 figure.  

A day later on Twitter, she repeated her initial tweet and repeated the “180,000” figure.

When Nick Ferrari challenged her claim on LBC, she failed to correct the “180,000” figure.

Verdict

Nadine Dorries’ original tweet was false. Rather than delete her false claim, she repeated it the following day, and then again on LBC. Anyone can make mistakes, but Nadine Dorries went on repeating her erroneous claim rather than removing it from the public record. 

We approached Ms Dorries’ Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to give them a chance to comment, but no reply.