Nadine Dorries, a former Conservative minister, has announced her resignation as an MP.

The former culture minister and close supporter of Boris Johnson announced her resignation "with immediate effect," saying it was "time for someone else to take the reins."

It implies that a by-election will be held in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency, where she has a majority of 24,664.

Ms Dorries had already stated that she will not run in the next general election.

It comes ahead of the expected publication of Mr Johnson's resignation honours list.

Ms Dorries was anticipated to be nominated for an accolade and to resign in order to accept the peerage.

When asked about the claims, she told TalkTV, "The last thing I would want to do is cause a by-election in my constituency."

"I don't think I'll be going into the House of Lords any time soon," she added, adding that no one at No 10 had approached her about the honours list.

She told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg last month that she had "never officially been told" she was obtaining a peerage and had only learned about it via a newspaper leak.Ms Dorries, who was born in Liverpool in 1957, worked as a nurse until becoming an MP in 2005.

She is also a popular author of romantic historical romances, and she made headlines in 2012 for appearing in the ITV reality show I'm A Celebrity, which resulted in her six-month ban from the Conservative parliamentary party.

She was a harsh opponent of then-Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne, referring to them as "a pair of posh boys who don't know the price of a pint of milk."

Mr Johnson appointed her as a health minister before selecting her as cultural secretary in September 2021.

She departed the cabinet in September, when Mr Johnson resigned as prime minister.

Since then, she has been a harsh critic of his replacement, Rishi Sunak, as well as others who pushed to depose Mr Johnson.

In announcing her decision not to run in the February general election, she highlighted "the lack of cohesion, the infighting, and occasionally the sheer stupidity of those who think we can remove a sitting prime minister."

"I'm afraid I'll have to remove myself from this behaviour," she continued.