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As Labour and the Lib Dems prepare for a contest in a by-election, Nadine Dorries resigns.

In a by-election this fall that was sparked by Nadine Dorries' resignation on Saturday, Labour and the Liberal Democrats are vying for her seat.

As they prepare to run for the vacant Mid Bedfordshire seat, the two parties rejected any kind of electoral alliance.

Ms. Dorries blasted Rishi Sunak for leading a "zombie Parliament" in her resignation letter.

Despite dismissing her harsh comments, government minister Johnny Mercer claimed she was "entitled to that view".

The government's veteran affairs minister, Mr. Mercer, stated, "I think people are tired of throwing the Boris Johnson government over the coals.

He told reporters on Sunday that he was looking forward to the by-election campaign but added: "We've got work to do but we've got a good candidate." The Conservative Party would need to "work hard to get" the votes of voters.

Ms. Dorries, a steadfast supporter of Johnson, made her resignation announcement on Saturday night, 11 weeks after making her original "with immediate effect" resignation pledge.

Despite not previously won the seat, Labour's Anneliese Dodds called Ms. Dorries' retirement "a real relief for the people of Mid Bedfordshire" and claimed that Labour was in "pole position" to win it.

She told BBC Breakfast, "I think there's really nothing to lose for Labour with this by-election." They are in dire need of an MP who will work exclusively on their behalf.

The statement "Labour won't be cooking up any deals" was inserted by her.

Following the party's triumph in Somerton and Frome last month, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said he was "increasingly confident we have a really good chance" of reducing Ms Dorries' enormous 25,000 margin in the constituency.

He said the Lib Dems had already been campaigning there, adding: "It's clear that the people of Mid Bedfordshire feel the Conservative Party is out of trust and they see the Liberal Democrats as the main challenger."

He said the Lib Dems had already been campaigning there, adding: "It's clear that the people of Mid Bedfordshire feel the Conservative Party is out of trust and they see the Liberal Democrats as the main challenger."

Insane resignation drama

Since she hadn't spoken in the Commons since June 2022, Ms. Dorries, whose MP pay is £86,584, had come under increasing pressure to follow through on her threat to leave.

She handed up her letter of resignation to the prime minister and had it posted on Mail Online.

full Senior Tory resignation letter from Nadine Dorries Her comments did not impress Caroline Nokes, who stated on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House: "I am not planning to waste another second of my life thinking about Nadine Dorries.

"Nadine has turned her resignation into a psychodrama, and unfortunately this seems more about gathering column inches for Nadine than a Conservative Party she claimed to be a loyal member of a few weeks ago," said one observer of the resignation.

In July, Sir Keir Starmer, Alistair Strathern, Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, and Peter Kyle, the shadow secretary for Northern Ireland, all paid a visit to the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Tuesday is expected to see the appointment of Ms. Dorries to the historic office of Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern, the mysterious procedure by which MPs may depart the Commons before to an election.

The Conservative Party will then be entitled to announce a Mid Bedfordshire by-election.

The Mid Bedfordshire Conservatives' Blake Stephenson told the BBC that his supporters had been "looking for clarity" regarding Ms. Dorries.

He declared, "I have no doubt [the Conservative candidate] can win this race." The circumstances surrounding this by-election, however, certainly make that more challenging.

Ms. Dorries later stated that she wanted to learn the reason why she was denied a seat in the House of Lords, after declaring in June that she would resign with immediate effect.

It was generally believed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson would elevate her to the rank of peer in his list of honors upon his resignation.

Ms. Dorries charged Mr. Sunak with "demeaning his office by opening the gates to whip up a public frenzy" against her in a lengthy statement.

According to her, this led to "threats to my person" and "the police having to visit my home and contact me on a number of occasions."

During a campaign stop in Ampthill, Mid Bedfordshire by-election candidate Cllr. Emma Holland-Lindsay and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey visit The Cottage Bakery.