16:19

Some non-prorogation news now. Our political correspondent Kate Proctor reports that there is speculation that the Liberal Democrats are preparing to welcome another defector, after their former leader Vince Cable announced he would stand down as an MP at the next election.

The candidate for Cable’s Twickenham seat, which he won back from the Conservatives in the 2017 general election, will be chosen from an all-female shortlist. Those wanting to stand have until midday on Friday to say so. A spokesman for the party said:

Vince has enjoyed a fantastic parliamentary career in the Liberal Democrats and representing the people of Twickenham. He will continue to serve as the MP until the next election, whenever that may be.

The vacancy opens up the possibility that the rumoured defection of another former Change UK MP will soon follow, with new members to be announced at the party’s autumn conference in Bournemouth.

Senior party figures have said they are holding out for Heidi Allen, Luciana Berger or Angela Smith to make the switch and follow their former colleague Sarah Wollaston. A source said: “Twickenham coming into play has certainly raised the levels of speculation about defections.”

Berger said she was still deciding what to do at the next election. The former MP Sarah Olney, who briefly took the Richmond Park seat from Zac Goldsmith before losing it months later in 2017, was briefly rumoured for Twickenham but has been reselected as the candidate in Richmond.

The all-women shortlist quashes rumours that the former Labour MP and now Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman, Chuka Umunna, could switch from running in Streatham to Twickenham, where Cable had a 9,000 majority.

