FORMER Dudley Council leader Cllr Les Jones has made a dramatic return to front bench politics in the wake of Tory defections.

Cllr Jones, who only recently rejoined the authority’s Conservative group after quitting as leader last year, is to be the new shadow cabinet member on children’s services.

Cllr Jones replaces Cllr Glenis Simms, who shocked the Tory group yesterday, (Thursday October 30) by defecting to Labour.

Cllr Jones said: “I am really concerned about the direction Labour is taking the issue of children’s services. There is something radically wrong and we need to fix it.”

Dudley Council is currently wrestling with a predicted £1m overspend in its children’s services budget after in July predicting £7m in savings.

At a meeting of the council’s cabinet earlier this week, Cllr Tim Crumpton, who heads the children’s services department, answered critics by insisting the directorate was facing a greater than expected workload with more than 3,000 referrals and he was not prepared to gamble with children’s safety.

Meanwhile Dudley’s Tory leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, has slammed Cllr Simms and her fellow defector Cllr Cheryl Billingham.

Cllr Harley said: “If councillors who have been elected as Conservatives suddenly decide that socialism and Ed Milliband are for them then that is their choice - however wrong and misguided they are.

“If either has an ounce of decency they will both step down and fight by-elections under their new party colours. Their reasons for defecting are quite bogus and have been used as stooges by the regional Labour party.”