Mark Reckless has been a member of the Welsh Assembly since being elected along with six other UKIP MAs in 2014. He currently serves as Leader of the Brexit Party in the Assembly, yet Guido understands that today Reckless is to jump party yet again, and join the Abolish The Welsh Assembly Party. Currently Abolish has just one member in the Assembly, former UKIP leadership candidate Gareth Bennett…
Currently a Brexit Party member, his defection would crash the Brexit Party ‘group’ on the Welsh Assembly, taking it below the minimum three members needed to access extra cash, staff, and resources. Every group staffer would lose jobs, just before Christmas and during a very uncertain time, perhaps only finding out on TV as Mark announces decision. It’ll be Mark’s fifth affiliation in 6 years…
However, the other Brexit Party Group Members are forming a new independent group with pro-devolution former UKIP AM Caroline Jones re-joining, who previously left the Brexit Party Group when it started its abolish position. Mark’s affiliations since September 2014 have been:
- UKIP (14 – 17)
- Welsh Conservative Group (17 – April 19)
- Independent (April 19 – May 19)
- Brexit Party (May 19 – Oct 20)
- Abolish (Oct 20 – )
The next election is in May 2021…
The Brexit Party is still polling as high as 10% in Wales ahead of next year’s assembly elections, yet could be on the verge of a bigger political upset thanks to their new staple policy: abolishing the Welsh Assembly in favour of direct elections for the First Minister. The move is a clever one; Wales has always been the most reluctantly devolved part of the UK, with abolition of its legislature already being backed by 25% of Welsh voters – the same figure supporting Welsh independence…
The bold policy has prompted former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood to compare the Brexit Party to Hitler.
Wood asks her followers, “Would you ever move to another country then become the leader of a political party that seeks to abolish the parliament of that country? Who would do that?”. Just like Plaid’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts, who moved from Wales to London, and seeks to abolish the Westminster Parliament of Wales…
Mark Reckless and three other Welsh AMs have formally confirmed that they are joining to the Brexit Party, after Guido revealed their imminent defections 24 hours ago. You’re either in front of Guido…
The four AMs have now given official notice to the Welsh Assembly that they are forming a Brexit Party Group in the assembly, with independents Caroline and Mandy Jones joining David Rowlands, who’s quitting UKIP, and Reckless who’s leaving the Tories again. It’s the third time he’s switched party in just five years, will it be third time lucky for Mark?
Guido understands that four Welsh Assembly members will be defecting to the Brexit Party tomorrow at a rally in Merthyr Tydfil, following Mark Reckless’ announcement that he has left the Conservative Group in the Assembly today. Three independents; Caroline Jones, Mandy Jones, and Mark Reckless are expected to join the Brexit Party along with UKIP AM David Rowlands. All four were originally elected as UKIP Assembly Members before the referendum. Brexit Party sources are playing down the story for now…
The defection of David Rowlands (one of the only three AMs to still sit as UKIP after seven were elected in 2016) means that the number of UKIP members in the Assembly will drop to just two, Neil Hamilton and Gareth Bennett. That takes them below the threshold to form an official group and receive resources from the assembly. Whokip?
The defection of the three Tory MPs to The Independents Group today has seen an outpouring of comments ranging from sadness to… sadness from their former Tory colleagues. Theresa May is “saddened”, David Cameron is “sad”, Claire Perry is “extremely sad”. All get thanks for their “dedicated service”, with the door being left open for them to return if they change their mind…
So presumably it was the same outpouring of thanks, hugs and condolences all round when Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless left for UKIP in 2014? Don’t be silly…
David Cameron branded Reckless’s decision “senseless and counter-productive” and accused Carswell of helping Labour. Carswell was accused of “betrayal”, “petulance” and “political vanity” by Tory MPs while Reckless was even sued by his former local party. All topped off with Claire “Brexit Jihadis” Perry’s ever classy “Don’t let the door hit your fat arse as you leave”…
Andrew RT Davies resigned as leader of the Welsh Conservatives in June, saying that he had learned of a plot by remain backing party colleagues in Westminster to oust him. Davies cited a text that had accidentally been sent to him by the Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns. At the time Cairns told BBC Daily Politics that:
“The text we’re talking about related to Mark Reckless and the wish in order to see him go after the local elections that were taking place at the time, not any other outcome.”
However, today the text has been revealed and clearly references the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives Nick Bourne, who now sits in the House of Lords. Mark Reckless (who had no involvement in Welsh politics before being elected as an Assembly Member in 2016) has released a statement confirming that he has “never had any dealings with Nick Bourne.”
This makes it hard for Cairns to go on claiming that the text was about ousting Reckless. If he has lied he would have to resign. Looks like Cairns has some serious questions to answer…
