A by-election to replace late MP Dame Cheryl Gillan could be held in June, reports suggest.

Dame Cheryl sadly died over the Easter weekend following a long illness, triggering a by-election for which various parties, including the Conservatives, have put candidates forward.

Times Radio’s chief political commentator Tom Newton Dunn tweeted to say that the Chief Whip has moved the writ, with the by-election “likely to be held on June 17”.

He said: “The Chief Whip has moved the writ for the Chesham and Amersham by-election. Likely to be held on June 17, I'm told. A 16,000 Tory majority there.”

According to the UK Parliament website, the Chief Whip of the political party whose MP held the vacant seat – in this case, the Conservative party – starts the process of a by-election by ‘moving the writ’.

This is a motion requesting “that the Speaker do issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new Writ for the electing of a Member to serve in this present Parliament for the constituency of .... in the room of...”

The Speaker puts this question to MPs to decide whether to agree on the motion.

If MPs agree, it becomes an Order for the Speaker, who then issues a warrant to the Clerk of the Crown, who then sends the writ to the relevant returning officer.

The UK Parliament website says a new writ is usually issued within three months of the vacancy, with the by-election timetable taking place between 21 and 27 working days from the issuing of the writ – but there have been a few instances when seats have stayed vacant for more than six months.

The Conservatives have named Peter Fleet to stand in the by-election for the party after he secured an “outright win” in the selection process on May 5.

Mr Fleet, who lives in the constituency with his young family, spent 30 years working for Ford, starting out as a graduate trainee and working his way to becoming its group vice-president.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey launched Sarah Green’s campaign to represent the constituency in Amersham on May 8.

She said her priorities are to “fight alongside local people against Conservative plans for a developer’s free-for-all”, to “protect the Chilterns against excessive development” and to “make sure local people get the public services they deserve”.

And the Green Party candidate for the seat is Carolyne Culver, a Green Party county councillor in West Berkshire.

Ms Culver is a HS2 campaigner and has spent much of her career working in communications in the charity and university sectors, including the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust and the University of Oxford.