Dudley general election result: Labour's Sonia Kumar beats Marco Longhi and pledges unity
Sonia Kumar has been elected as the Labour MP for the reformed Dudley constituency, ending Marco Longhi's five-year stint in Parliament.
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Previously split as Dudley North and Dudley South, both seats were held by the Conservatives going into the election with Mr Longhi taking the North constituency in 2019 from Labour's Red Wall.'
But this he lost to the Labour candidate by 1,900 votes, on 10,315 with Andrew Southall for Reform UK performing well to poll 9,442 votes. Ms Kumar polled 12,215 to win by 1.900.
The result meant Labour won all three seats at the Stourbridge count; Halesowen, Dudley and Stourbridge.
In May a row broke out when Mr Longhi was accused of 'divisive politics' when using Ms Kumar's name in a letter to constituents which referred to the Kashmiri conflict.
He looked visibly upset when taking to the stage at the Crystal Leisure Centre in Stourbridge to speak in the early hours of Friday, though was gracious in accepting defeat and also paid tribute to his wife and children who he said had 'not seen much of him' lately.
Recently Mr Longhi spearheaded a campaign to save the Crooked House and rebuild it 'brick by brick,' as well as protect historic pubs and bring Dudley Town FC home.
