Brexit Party MEP Rupert Lowe will bid to unseat Ian Austin in future general election

Mr Lowe will contest the Dudley North seat, held by independent Ian Austin, who quit Labour in February after voicing his dissatisfaction with leader Jeremy Corbyn.

This week's by-election defeat in Wales has left new Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a working majority of just one in the House of Commons.

The Tory loss will add to the PM’s challenges to steer Brexit through Parliament and may increase the chances of a snap general election.

Mr Lowe was elected to the European Parliament in May but now will bid to overturn Mr Austin's wafer-thin 22-vote majority from 2017.

The Brexit Party candidate, who previously stood for Parliament in the Cotswolds in 1997 General Election, said: "I am delighted to have been selected as the candidate for Dudley North.

"I've been making deals my whole life and it's about time the good people of Dudley have MPs who can fight for their interest on a national level."

The former Southampton football club chairman added: "Labour won't deliver Brexit and the Tories can't.

"The Boris plan to repackage May's treaty and force it through is duplicitous and must be called out for it.

"For too long Westminster has looked down its nose at places like Dudley. The town voted Leave in huge numbers and the establishment didn't like it. Vote for the Brexit Party to tell them again."

Former Dudley borough UKIP councillor Paul Brothwood will be the Brexit Party candidate for Dudley South.

Dudley South is currently held by Conservative Mike Wood, with a 7,730-majority at the 2017 General Election.

Mr Brothwood said: "It is an honour to be standing in my home constituency. This is where I was born, bred and live.

"I want to continue my community work and help untangle the poor legacy of the established parties and offer a real alternative, let’s change politics for good.”

Mr Brothwood was formally a councillor in Wordsley before losing his seat in 2018 and leaving UKIP.

Richard Tice, Brexit Party Chairman said: “The Brexit Party stands ready to fight a general election with a full slate of candidates in all the UK’s 650 constituencies.

"We will take on the major parties, which have failed the British people time and time again."