BREXIT Party candidate Rupert Lowe has announced he will no longer be standing as a parliamentary candidate for Dudley North.

His announcement comes just a day before Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage is set to appear at a public rally at Dudley Town Hall.

Mr Lowe said he was standing down 'with a heavy heart' and was putting 'country before party' in a bid to not split the Leave vote in the highly marginal, Brexit-voting seat.

In a statement, he said: "After much consideration and with a heavy heart, I have decided not to contest Dudley North as Brexit candidate.

"I am putting country before party as it is now highly conceivable that my candidacy could split the vote facilitating the election of Labour candidate Melanie Dudley."

The West Midlands MEP slammed the Labour Party as 'unfit to govern' and that politics needed to urgently change.

His surprise announcement comes days after Nigel Farage withdrew Brexit Party candidates from over 300 Conservative held seats across the country in a bid to target Labour voting Leave seats.

Dudley North, which elected then-Labour MP Ian Austin in 2017 and voted heavily to leave the EU in 2016, was seen to be a key target for Nigel Farage's party.

Dudley South has also seen its Brexit Party candidate Paul Brothwood switch his support to the Conservatives.