Rishi Sunak says he is focused on the future after Nadine Dorries resignation

Rishi Sunak spoke on BBC Three Counties Radio about the Mid Bedfordshire by-election, HS2 and Star Wars

Rishi Sunak has said he is "not focused on the past", after being asked about his handling of Nadine Dorries' resignation as an MP.

Conservative Ms Dorries resigned from the Commons in August, more than two months after pledging to go with "immediate effect".

Mr Sunak told BBC Three Counties Radio it was "not in my ability" to have forced her to give up the job as an MP.

A by-election is being held for the Mid Bedfordshire seat on 19 October.

Speaking as part of a round of interviews with BBC Local Radio stations, the prime minister was asked about Ms Dorries and the resulting by-election, HS2 and his love of Star Wars.

Nadine Dorries had been criticised by local people who said she was not present enough

As the figurehead of the Conservative party, Mr Sunak was asked about his handling of Ms Dorries, who had not spoken in the House of Commons for more than a year and was claimed to have not held a surgery in Flitwick since March 2020.

Asked if he was embarrassed by Ms Dories' absence within the community, he said "that is definitely not right".

"I'm not focused on the past, I'm focused on the future", he added.

Babs Michel asked the prime minister if he was more Skywalker, Han Solo or Darth Vader

In terms of Ms Dorries' departure, Mr Sunak said: "The way it works for MPs it's slightly different, in the sense they themselves are elected by their constituents and we have a separate process for them stopping the job that they're in, which is reliant on them.

"It's not in my ability to do that, people might not quite understand that, but ultimately people elect their MPs regardless of who the prime minister is."

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In total, 13 candidates are standing in the by-election to replace Ms Dorries.

Offering his support to the Conservative candidate, Festus Akinbusoye, the current elected police and crime commissioner, Mr Sunak said the prospective MP was "not responsible for Nadine Dorries".

"I want them to have a fantastic MP going forward," he said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey recently gave a series of regional BBC interviews, and ruled out forming a deal with Labour which would see his party ease off campaigning in a Tamworth by-election, if Labour did the same in Mid Bedfordshire.

The BBC will be speaking to Labour leader Keir Starmer as his party prepares for its conference in Liverpool from 8 October.

Analysis: Amy Holmes, Political reporter, BBC Three Counties

For us expectations were low on what we would get from the PM, based on previous experience interviewing Sunak, so we focused on our big local issues in the forthcoming Mid Beds by-election and HS2 that will run through Buckinghamshire, but with no obvious benefits to us.

On HS2 he maintained his stance in refusing to confirm whether phase two of the project would be scrapped, telling us it was right to weigh up all the options first.

Part of HS2 is being built in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

We played him a clip of Alan, who has lived in the Buckinghamshire town of Wendover for more than 70 years but feels it will never be the same again because of the building work for HS2.

The PM acknowledged that work was causing disruption but hoped people across the country would benefit from the line along with improvements he says his party is making to fixing potholes and rural bus services.

On a lighter note, the prime minister was asked about being a Star Wars fan, with some of the films being shot at Elstree, Hertfordshire.

He said he would love to be able to pilot the Millennium Falcon and other craft.

"Piloting an X Wing has probably been one of my life's bucket list things that I would want to do so if you could have a chat with the people who filmed the movies there, if they could get me a cameo in an X wing- Red 7 standing by before we take down the Death Star that would make me a very happy man," he said.

"That has always been my childhood dream", he added.

When asked if he was more of a Skywalker, Han Solo or Darth Vader, he said he would leave others to come to their own conclusion.