Afzal Amin row: New Tory candidate will need public's trust

Councillor Les Jones who led Dudley Council until 2012, has not ruled himself out of standing if the Dudley North Conservative Association wants him to.

The association has to work quickly to replace Mr Amin, a former army officer from Smethwick, who resigned because of reports he had met with the far right English Defence League and claims he had discussed them organising and then calling off a protest march in Dudley.

The association will have to pick from an approved list of Tory candidates. Potential applicants have been contacted by the Conservatives' central office to let them know of the vacancy.

Councillor Jones, who is on the approved candidates list dating back to his campaigns in Halesowen and Rowley Regis in 2001 and 2005 and stood in the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner by-election last year, said: "Whoever replaces Afzal Amin is going to have to be able to stand on a record of trust.

"There are normal procedures for selecting a candidate but these are not normal times. The party needs to move quickly."

There is also the opportunity for candidates who missed out on being selected for other seats to try again if they want to.

Last November, after Chris Kelly announced he would stand down in neighbouring Dudley South, the Tories held a US-style open primary to find a replacement candidate.

The party opened it up to any registered voter in the constituency and selected Mike Wood as their candidate.