Former Stoke-on-Trent MP Jonathan Gullis has announced he will be standing for election as a councillor.

The ex-Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North will be standing as a Reform UK candidate in the Kidsgrove and Ravenscliffe ward in the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council elections in May.

Mr Gullis served as an MP between 2019 and 2024 and gained a national reputation as an outspoken supporter of Brexit.

After losing his seat in the 2024 General Election, Mr Gullis was co-opted onto Kidsgrove Town Council, and served as town mayor.

In December he defected to Reform UK, saying that he believed the Conservatives had lost the trust of the British people. Mr Gullis claims that a delay in investing Town Deal money in Kidsgrove is holding the town back and making local people feel 'forgotten'.

He said: "I cannot stand by and watch Kidsgrove be let down. If elected, I will fight to get the investment our community is owed, improve our parks so local families can enjoy them properly, and work with Staffordshire County Council to tackle the broken roads that have been ignored for far too long and are costing residents hundreds of pounds in repairs.

"I was proud to stand up for Kidsgrove as your MP, and I will be just as determined to stand up for our community as your local councillor."

All 44 seats on Newcastle Borough Council are due to be contested in the local elections on May 7. The council is currently controlled by the Conservatives, who hold all three seats in Kidsgrove and Ravenscliffe ward.

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Mr Gullis' announcement came just days after Reform UK suspended its one elected member on the borough council following the latest racism scandal to hit the party.

Reform UK said former Knutton councillor Lynn Dean had the whip suspended after she made 'unacceptable' comments on social media, and she has since resigned from the authority, although she remains a county councillor.