DUDLEY Council’s former leader was this today being tipped as the politician who could save Dudley North for the Tories in the aftermath of the Afzal Amin scandal.

Ex-British Army captain Mr Amin resigned his candidacy for the key marginal seat on Monday after he was suspended amid allegations he had been plotting with members of the English Defence League to boost his chances of a win for the Conservatives.

Tory Party hopes of turning the traditional Labour seat blue have been dealt a massive blow by the saga which saw Mr Amin accused of cooking up a plan to take credit for the cancellation of a phantom protest which was never going to happen.

Mr Amin strongly denied the allegations and a crunch meeting with senior Conservative Party members was due to take place on Tuesday but his resignation a day earlier - just six weeks before the General Election on Thursday May 7 - has left Conservative Central Office and local association members facing a race against time to find a new candidate.

There may, however, be only one suitable choice – the borough’s former council leader Councillor Les Jones, who has stood twice as a Parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives in Halesowen and Rowley Regis.

Cllr Jones, who also had a go at trying to win the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner role last August, this week said he was “not ruling it out” should he be asked to step in to help fight for Dudley North.

He said: “Should I be asked I would have to consider it because of the circumstances.

“We can’t afford to effectively hand it on a plate; UKIP would get so much benefit from it if we fielded a poor candidate.

“I’ll do whatever to help the party through this situation.

“I know the patch and the issues in Dudley and the opponents quite well too.

“I don’t know of any other qualified Parliamentary candidate in the area and I do have a lot of sympathy for the argument that it should be a local candidate – it’s a short time scale.

“I’m not ruling it out but I don’t want to pre-empt the decision of the association.”

He described disgraced Mr Amin as an “individual who has gone a bit AWOL” and said he was “absolutely satisfied” Conservative Party colleagues in Dudley had no knowledge or involvement in his alleged antics.

Cllr Jones, who stood against Labour's Sylvia Heal in Halesowen and Rowley Regis in 2001 and 2005, said he had given up on his Parliamentary ambitions before the 2010 General Election after failing to gain selection for the Stourbridge seat but with nominations set to close on April 9 time is short to select another candidate fit to do battle in Dudley North.

The stalwart politician, who has represented Pedmore and Stourbridge East since 1999, added: "I want us to put up a fight."

He said a decision would likely be made by the end of the week and he added: "I would like to see the campaign start properly on Monday."

Dudley’s Conservative group leader Councillor Patrick Harley said it was important to have a candidate with local links at this stage in the game, adding: "We need someone who can hit the ground running."

He branded the scandal with Mr Amin "a storm in a teacup" and said he did not think it would harm the Conservative's chances.

He said:"Dudley North will be very close. Obviously UKIP did well in the European election and are hopeful they can take votes from Labour - which they seem to be at the moment - but as people see the economy moving in the right direction, they seem to be coming back to us.

"A lot of people will be voting for either Ed Miliband or David Cameron and a strong candidate will be able to alter the outcome if it's tight."

UKIP's Dudley North candidate Bill Etheridge, however, said he felt the drama spelled the end for the Tories.

He said: "Obviously, I welcome the decision by Mr Amin to resign. He has let himself, his party and the people of Dudley North down. The Tories are finished in Dudley, UKIP will continue to put the people of Dudley first."

Sitting Dudley North MP Ian Austin, who is fighting to hang onto his seat, said Mr Amin's "position was clearly untenable" and he added: "I’m pleased he has done the right thing and resigned.

"I’ll carry on trying to persuade everyone in Dudley to support my campaigns to improve things in the area and I’ll be doing what a good local representative should do – listening to local people, speaking up for them and bringing people together."

Labour councillor Pete Lowe, leader of Dudley Council, said: "We cannot allow ourselves to descend to the depths of what we have recently seen.

“We have good community relations, we are very proud town, we are proud of our community and proud of our history of resolving issues in a constructive manner."