Thursday 18 August 2016

Welsh Kipper leader leaves the pack,


The position of Nathan Gill even before he quit the Ukip Assembly group but claiming that he will continue to serve as  Ukip Welsh leader was pretty bizarre  to say the least.

During the UK Independence Party Wales Conference on 6 December 2014, Nigel Farage Leader of UK Independence Party announced that Gill would be the Leader of the Party in Wales. During the 2015 general election campaign, Gill represented in the ITV Welsh TV Leaders debate.

So he was appointed as Welsh leader  in the  manner of totalitarian party
In the 2016 Assembly election Gill won a seat representing the North Wales region was beaten to the post of leader of the UKIP group in the National Assembly for Wales by former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton, in a move which Gill described as "bizarre". UKIP leader Nigel Farage, described the move as an "unjust act of deep ingratitude" [18] resulting in Hamilton dismissing Farage as simply an "MEP for South East Wales whos opinions were "irrelevant".


Since then Gill has become increasingly estranged from the group. with criticism coming from his own group over his "Double Jobbing" as an AM and MEP
Five members of the Assembly  group called on Mr Gill to honour his pledge to give up his seat in the European Parliament if elected to the assembly.
However, Mr Gill has insisted he can carry out both roles.
The North Wales AM had been threatened with expulsion from UKIP if he did not give up one of his two elected posts, with party bosses arranging for a vote of members in Wales to decide his future.

In a statement Mr Gill said: 
“After much deliberation I have decided to break away from the UKIP group in the Welsh Assembly and sit as an independent.
"Too much time has been wasted on infighting over issues that cannot be resolved and it has become a distraction to the work we were elected to do.
"I remain UKIP Leader in Wales and am committed to serving my constituents.”
A note attached to the statement said:
 “From midday today Nathan Gill will be sitting in the Welsh Assembly separately from the Ukip group as an Independent but remains a Ukip MEP in the European Parliament and as nominated leader of the party in Wales.
“Nathan will not be doing any further interviews on this matter as he believes too much time has already been expended on persistent feuds in Ukip and chooses rather to focus on his work.”

With Farage seeming to have quit has leader  we can only wonder  who the new UK leader will appoint as their   Gauleiter,. (I know, but what other word can you use for such an undemocratic appointment).

I wonder why Ukip in Wales don't elect their leader? Maybe it will expose the actually size of its membership and.or show how divided they really are .

With UK polls showing Ukip slipping to  just 6% , We can only wonder what the level of support is in Wales after the Brexit vote.

The majority of the existing Wesh AMs seem to be united against Gill but just four months after their dramatic breakthrough n the Assembly election  we can only wonder how many of the remaining  six will be in the group in the near future?
 

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