Nadine Dorries has announced she will stand down as an MP with “immediate effect”, triggering a by-election in her seat.
The former culture secretary is a close ally of Boris Johnson had reportedly is in line to be given a peerage by the ex-PM.
Dorries has been the MP for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005 and has a majority of 24,664.
But the Lib Dems will hope to snatch the seat off the Tories at the by-election, given the party’s recent record of overturning big Conservative majorities.
A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “This is a rural seat in the heart of the blue wall, we are in it to win it.”
There has been months-long speculation that Dorries was to be handed a peerage in Johnson’s resignation honours list.
Dorries has been a vocal critic of Rishi Sunak snd is set to release a book on the downfall of Johnson.
Her promotion to culture secretary under Johnson’s leadership saw her lead the now-ditched plan to privatise Channel 4.
She was no stranger to controversy during her time in parliament, losing the Conservative whip in 2013 as a result of her appearance on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
