A date has been confirmed for the Mid Bedfordshire by-election after Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said she would vacate her seat.

The former culture secretary resigned from the Commons last month, more than two months after pledging to go "with immediate effect".

Central Bedfordshire Council has now confirmed that the by-election will take place on Thursday, October 19, with seven candidates so far confirmed as standing for the seat.

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The Comet: Labour's Mid Bedfordshire by-election candidate Alistair Strathern.Labour's Mid Bedfordshire by-election candidate Alistair Strathern. (Image: PA Images/PA Wire)

Ms Dorries was elected five times in the historically safe seat since 2005, each time with a comfortable majority, but said she would quit in June, before claiming she wanted to find out why she was refused a seat in the House of Lords.

It was widely thought she would be made a peer by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his resignation honours list.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be hoping for a Conservative victory in the by-election, but Labour, who finished in second place in Mid Bedfordshire in the 2019 election, is hopeful of snatching the seat held by the Tories since 1931.

The Comet: Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and Cllr Emma Holland-Lindsay, the candidate for the Mid Bedfordshire constituency out canvassing last month.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and Cllr Emma Holland-Lindsay, the candidate for the Mid Bedfordshire constituency out canvassing last month. (Image: PA Images/PA Wire)

The Liberal Democrats believe they have a chance to continue their run of delivering by-election shocks to the Conservatives, with deputy leader Daisy Cooper saying: "Communities across Mid Bedfordshire now have the opportunity to elect a strong local champion after years of being taken for granted by an absent Conservative MP."