Wednesday 11 May 2016

Ukip in the Assembly implode within a week.


On Saturday   this Blog wrote that Ukip
....Seemingly the big winners in seats , though they dud not get anything like the vote they achieved in the UK Genera Election .

With Seven AM, on paper it looks at first the will play a major role in the Assembly but they were already divided before the Election with Christine Hamilton accusing UKIP Wales' leader of acting like a "third-rate general" after he said he would "probably not" have chosen her husband as an election candidate.There were accusations the selection of Neil Hamilton and fellow ex-Tory MP Mark Reckless as UKIP candidates in Wales was imposed by the party centrally. Nathan Gill said he would "probably not" have chosen them.One wonders how long after June's Brexit referendum they will stay together .The record of Ukip losing elected members shortly after making a breakthrough is higher than any Party.It would take only two to defect to the Tories to make the latter the main opposition .
 Watch this space
My Prediction however was somewhat lax for as the wasting Mule points out

Neil Hamilton, whose career was in ruins after one of the major post-war political scandals, has made a dramatic comeback by 

defeating Ukip Wales leader Nathan Gill to become leader of the party’s National Assembly group.

He now leads Ukip in the Assembly

The first consequence of Mr Hamilton’s victory by four votes to three has seen the party campaign team that masterminded the election of seven AMs told their services are no longer required.
Mr Hamilton, a regional AM for Mid and West Wales, defeated Mr Gill, elected as an AM for North Wales, by four votes to three.
Mr Hamilton was backed by North Wales AM Michelle Brown, South Wales Central AM Gareth Bennett and South Wales West AM Caroline Jones, while Mr Gill had the support of the two South Wales East AMs, Mark Reckless and David Rowlands.
Ukip's UK leader Nigel Farage attacked the party's AMs for their decision.
He described the decision to choose Mr Hamilton over the party's Wales leader Nathan Gill as "unjust and an act of deep ingratitude".

Some football players who celebrate their team's promotion to the Premiership will be upset but not to often surprised to see  that they are put on the transfer list and wil not be playing top class football in the next season despite the contribution they made 
Mr Hamilton's  has almost on his first day managed fo get himself  a pay rise as his salary will be £84,000 as leader of the UKIP assembly group.
This consists of an AM's salary of £64,000, plus an additional payment for being leader of an opposition group.
The additional payment is £13,000 plus £1,000 for every member - UKIP has seven AMs, giving a total of £20,000 in additional payments.

 In addition, each of the seven Ukip AMs is entitled to employ three full-time members of staff.
Llyr Powell, a senior member of Ukip Wales’ national campaign team, said: 
“Six of us have been told we won’t be employed in future because we are Farage loyalists. A new team will be brought in.
“During the campaign Mr Hamilton has been accompanied by Robin Hunter-Clarke, a councillor from Skegness in Lincolnshire. He was with him in the Senedd on Saturday, and there is speculation that he will be appointed as the Ukip group’s chief of staff.”

In a Bizarre and ironic twist Mr Hamilton who will not be resident in Wales seems to have become the only Unionist poltician in Wales not to take declare UDI,

  Mr Farage called UKIP AMs' choice of Mr Hamilton over Nathan Gill on Tuesday an "unjust" act of "deep ingratitude".
Mr Hamilton responded: 
"We in Wales will give appropriate weight to the opinion of the MEP for the South East of England."

Before we start cheering we must consider that if this farce continues  that his will damage the image of the Assembly and play in to the hands of its detractors .
Which may well be what Ukip want anyway.

5 comments:

East Neuker said...

Can you explain to me what's happening in Wales re UKIP? I do not pretend to have any insight into Welsh politics, but take and interest, IE reading blogs like yours etc. From where I am in Scotland it is difficult to understand the likes of Neil Hamilton and Mark Reckless being elected, along with five others, and I am genuinely curious about how that comes about.
I Am annoyed by having a member of the Lib Dem coalition liars party as my constituency MSP (bloody Willie Rennie - useless git, but better that than UKIP or the Tories).
We do have one UKIP MEP in Scotland (shameful) but he didn't even get 2% on the regional list for Holyrood, so I reckon he's been found out.
What's happening in Wales? What's your view on that?

glynbeddau said...

God he!p me I wish I could explain it.

Anonymous said...

Just want to congratulate the Welsh people on the start of realising how useless the Labour Party are. I tend to think that the majority of Ukip' s vote will have come from English disaffected Tories but you may know differently. They will as you say tear themselves to bits in time, we can only hope. Meanwhile we are stocking up the popcorn here in Scotland for FM' s question tomorrow when the Tories become the opposition.Helena

East Neuker said...

Helena,
The direct confrontation between social democratic independence supporting parties and the union flag waving Tories at Holyrood should indeed be interesting.
It may take some time to develop fully, but Ruth the Tank Commander will have to defend the Uk government. Interesting.
Meanwhile, come on Plaid and down with UKIP.

Provost Sludden said...

It looks like UKIP are having another Kilroy moment. Interesting that they voted for Leanne Wood as FM.

I would like to see her as First Minister but as an SNP voter, I am biased towards Plaid.