THE borough's UKIP leader hopes to turn Dudley South purple after being confirmed as the party's parliamentary candidate for the key constituency.

Wordsley councillor Paul Brothwood, UKIP group leader in Dudley, believes he has every chance of winning the seat as he was born, bred and lives in the constituency which among the party's list of targets in May's General Election.

Cllr Brothwood, a project manager who lives in Kingswinford, was selected as the new candidate in place of UKIP's original choice for Dudley South - Phil Rowe - who will be standing in Gornal as a candidate in the local election instead.

Cllr Brothwood, aged 32, said: “I will be fighting tooth and nail to turn Dudley South, my home turf, purple.

“I am the only local candidate from a major party standing in Dudley South and I'm proud to still live in this area where I was born and want to raise my family.”

He said Dudley South was UKIP's fourth best result nationally in 2010 and he added: "I think the Tories are going to do very badly in Dudley South - they came third in the last local elections and two councillors have defected to Labour.

"It's exciting times."

Cllr Brothwood says UKIP has recruited an army of leaflet delivering volunteers and he has been busy trying to resolve issues around long-term derelict buildings, instigating action against fly-tippers and fighting to make it more difficult for 'financially viable' borough pubs to be closed.

He continued: "I am proud to be from Dudley South and would like the opportunity to represent people where I live.

“I do not have the power of big business or the trade unions that want to parachute people into Westminster. I believe it’s important for Dudley South to have a local representative and a real voice.”

Councillor Mike Wood, Conservative candidate for Dudley South - a councillor for Pedmore and Stourbridge East ward, said: "The polling is showing it's a very tight fight between the Conservatives and Labour in Dudley South. We're getting two thirds of people saying they want David Cameron rather than Ed Miliband as Prime Minister but if people vote for UKIP or the other smaller parties it makes it more likely they'll end up with Ed Miliband."

Labour's candidate for Dudley South is Black Country trade union organiser Natasha Millward - and former primary school teacher Vicky Duckworth is the Green Party candidate.