'Hugely respected': West Midlands MEP pays tribute to predecessor who died after battle with cancer

Daniel Dalton automatically replaced the late Philip Bradbourn, who died in December following a battle with bowel cancer.

No by-election was held because European Parliament rules any vacancies are filled by the next person on the political party's list of candidates from the last election in May 2014.

Ex-cricketer Mr Dalton missed out on a seat in Brussels and Strasbourg because UKIP won three of the West Midlands seats and Labour won two. The Liberal Democrats lost their only West Midlands seat and the Tories were reduced from three to two.

Mr Bradbourn was diagnosed after winning the election alongside Tory MEP Anthea McIntyre.

Mr Dalton said: "Phil was a hugely respected and effective public servant who was dedicated to representing this region. He set an incredibly high standard of what it means to be an MEP.

"I hope I can follow his example, supporting my constituents and standing up for the West Midlands within Europe."

Ms McIntyre added: "Dan is a West Midlander with a lot of experience. I'm really pleased to be working with him."

Mr Dalton was a senior policy advisor in the European Parliament in the areas of agriculture, culture, education and sport.

He was also a professional cricketer playing for Warwickshire CCC second XI and Warwickshire Cricket Board, as well as for Knowle and Dorridge, Moseley and Leamington in the Birmingham League. He was also a cricket coach working with the Warwickshire youth squads.

Labour's two MEPs are Sion Simon and Neena Gill. UKIP's three are Jill Seymour, Jim Carver and Bill Etheridge.

When Mr Bradbourn passed away tributes flooded in including from Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he 'showed 'great passion in serving both the party and his constituents.'

Born in 1951, Mr Bradbourn was educated at Tipton Grammar School and then at Wulfrun College and Worcester College.

He joined the Conservatives in 1969 and had been a town planning officer in local government for more than 20 years before becoming an adviser to the Conservative group on Wolverhampton City Council.

In 1994, he was awarded an OBE for public and political service and was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, winning re-election three more times.