Former Dudley MP hits out at Tories as he defects to Reform

Marco Longhi, who was MP for Dudley North until his defeat at last year's General Election, said he was concerned about the state of the country, and saw Nigel Farage's Reform UK as the only party able to offer solutions.

He said the Conservative Party had lost its purpose, and that the UK had become 'unrecognisable'.

Mr Longhi, who was also a former mayor of Walsall, said he was concerned that British identity had been eroded as a result of political correctness and progressive ideals.

He said: "I didn't leave the Tories, the Conservative Party left me.

"I am a patriot. My country is now unrecognisable. I can’t sit and watch while our enemies within the country destroy us. 

"I have served the Conservative Party for decades, but now they have lost their purpose. Let’s get our country back under the leadership of Nigel Farage."

Mr Longhi said during his time as MP, he was criticised inside the party for his opposition to the use of local hotels to house asylum seekers.

"Uncontrolled immigration has created a housing crisis and a lawless society. We’ve imported criminality while our police focus on performative gestures and virtue signalling instead of tackling real crimes like sexual assault and robbery. "

Mr Longhi took Dudley North for the Conservatives at the 2019 General Election with a majority of 11,533, having secured 63 per cent of the vote. His win followed the decision of previous Labour MP Ian Austin to resign from the party and support Mr Longhi.

But he failed to win the new Dudley seat at the General Election in May last year, losing to Labour's Sonia Kumar by 1,900 votes, with Reform's Andrew Southall coming a close third.