The Liberal Democrats have deselected former Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello - just 36 hours after announcing his candidacy.

Mr Flello held the seat for Labour for 12 years before being ousted by Conservative Jack Brereton in the 2017 General Election.

In September, he defected to the Lib Dems, saying that Labour was a party he could ‘no longer recognise’.

He had previously been a critic of party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But the Lib Dems have today (Tuesday) announced his deselection on the grounds of 'how greatly his values diverge from ours', due to his voting record on gay marriage and abortion.

His shortlived nomination for his old seat could well be a record.

Labour candidate in the same seat, Mark McDonald told StokeonTrentLive he was not surprised about the decision.

He said: "Rob Flello supported the Iraq War, he was against gay marriage, he was anti-European. He is the epitome of everything the Lib Dems are against."

The Liberal Democrats used to win around 15 per cent of the vote in Stoke-on-Trent South in general elections.

But in 2015 their support collapsed, as it did in many parts of the country.

In the last two elections Lib Dem candidates for the seat have lost their deposits after polling less than five per cent.

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While the Lib Dems will be hoping to win seats in Remain-voting areas of the country, thanks to their firm anti-Brexit stance, it will be much more difficult for them in a seat like Stoke-on-Trent South - no matter who they put up to the job.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: "We do our best to screen candidates in our approval process. In this case it only became clear over the past few days how greatly his values diverge from ours."

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