Former Conservative MP for Dudley North, Marco Longhi has defected to Reform UK.

Mr Longhi was introduced to the stage at the Reform UK East Midlands Conference in Leicester by party leader, Nigel Farage.

He said: "I am a patriot and I finally feel at home”.

He also listed a series of reasons for his move including the country suffering from ‘totally unchecked immigration’, a housing crisis, the highest levels of tax and spend and what he described as ‘a lawless society’.

Longhi lost to Labour's Sonia Kumar in last year's general election.