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UKIP's Mark Reckless to join Conservatives in assembly UKIP's Mark Reckless to join Conservatives in assembly
(35 minutes later)
UKIP AM Mark Reckless has confirmed he is joining the Welsh Conservative group in the assembly. UKIP AM Mark Reckless has confirmed he is joining the Conservative group in the Welsh Assembly.
Mr Reckless, who was elected as a regional AM in South Wales East, will not join the Conservative Party but will sit as a Conservative AM.Mr Reckless, who was elected as a regional AM in South Wales East, will not join the Conservative Party but will sit as a Conservative AM.
Adding Mr Reckless will make the Tory group the second largest in the Senedd.Adding Mr Reckless will make the Tory group the second largest in the Senedd.
UKIP assembly group leader Neil Hamilton said he had "betrayed the trust" of party supporters and had "no mandate" to be Conservative AM. UKIP assembly group leader Neil Hamilton said he had "betrayed the trust" of party supporters and had "no mandate" to be a Conservative AM.
Mr Hamilton, and UKIP chairman Paul Oakden, said Mr Reckless should stand down as an AM so he can be replaced by the party's next candidate on the regional list. Mr Hamilton, and UKIP chairman Paul Oakden, said the former Rochester and Strood MP should stand down from the assembly so he can be replaced by the party's next candidate on the regional list.
The Conservatives said they will now be seen as the official opposition to the Welsh Labour-led government. Assembly Presiding Officer Elin Jones said the former UKIP AM could be a member of the Conservative group.
In a statement, Mr Reckless said he had been "thoroughly impressed by the performance and discipline of Andrew RT Davies and the Welsh Conservative group." The Conservatives said they would now be seen as the official opposition to the Labour-led Welsh Government.
He also said that as prime minister Theresa May's leadership had been "exemplary" and she had been "steadfast in her position to deliver on the wishes of the people of Wales and the United Kingdom".UKIP AM to join Tory assembly group In a statement, Mr Reckless said he had been "thoroughly impressed by the performance and discipline of Andrew RT Davies and the Welsh Conservative group".
He also said that Theresa May's leadership as Prime Minister had been "exemplary" and that she had been "steadfast in her position to deliver on the wishes of the people of Wales and the United Kingdom".
Mr Davies said Mr Reckless had "proven himself to be a hard-working and dedicated AM who has been an effective representative for the South East Wales region".Mr Davies said Mr Reckless had "proven himself to be a hard-working and dedicated AM who has been an effective representative for the South East Wales region".
"He will now be able to continue this work as part of a strong and united team which will be the official opposition in the assembly," he added."He will now be able to continue this work as part of a strong and united team which will be the official opposition in the assembly," he added.
Mr Oakden said the party was disappointed by the decision Mr Reckless had taken. Mr Hamilton accused his former UKIP colleague of showing "weakness of character".
He said that in last year's assembly poll "Mark was one of two UKIP candidates from South Wales East elected to the Senedd". "He didn't have the courtesy or the courage to speak to me about any doubts he had about his future in UKIP or what he might get from the Conservative Party," he told BBC Wales.
"It is now incumbent on Mark Reckless to relinquish a position he has only by virtue of a UKIP mandate," he said. "Fundamentally he was elected to the assembly not as Mark Reckless but as a UKIP candidate for the South East Wales region.
"The position should go to the next UKIP candidate on the regional list." "He's betrayed the trust of all of those who selected him in the first place to be a candidate and all of those who worked to get him elected to the assembly.
But there is no requirement under assembly rules for either regional or constituency AMs to stand down when they leave the party they were elected to represent. "He's got no mandate to sit in the assembly as a member of the Conservative group."
Analysis by Rachel Flint, BBC News Mr Oakden said it was "incumbent on Mark Reckless to relinquish a position he has only by virtue of a UKIP mandate".
Back at last year's May elections UKIP won its first seats in the assembly - gaining seven regional seats. "The position should go to the next UKIP candidate on the regional list," he said.
Since setting foot inside the Senedd the situation has been far from simple for UKIP and the events of the past few days look set to muddy the waters even more. There is no requirement under assembly rules for either regional or constituency AMs to stand down when they leave the party they were elected to represent.
From day one the group in Cardiff Bay has been plagued by rows and infighting, starting with Neil Hamilton beating the then UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill to become the party's leader in the Senedd. Analysis by BBC Wales political correspondent Tomos Livingstone
Mr Gill stepped down from the assembly group following a spat about "double-jobbing" over his role as a both an MEP and AM. Normally the defection of a politician from one party to another prompts a stream of abuse from the member's former home and the sound of champagne corks popping at their new abode.
Confusingly, while he is now an independent AM for North Wales, he remains a UKIP MEP. There's been plenty of the former from UKIP now that Mark Reckless has left, but not everyone in the Conservative Party is celebrating today's development.
With Mark Reckless - who wrote the party's manifesto for the 2016 campaign - becoming the second UKIP AM to leave the group to sit as an independent, the party is down to just five AMs. Mr Reckless made the opposite journey in 2014, and anger at that decision is still plain for all to see.
There is no rule that would require Mr Reckless to give up his seat and give way to the next UKIP candidate on the regional list. That's why the South Wales East AM is going to be a Conservative AM, but not, rather oddly, a member of the Conservative Party.
Has Andrew RT Davies therefore performed a coup, defying the wishes of Welsh Conservative MPs who think he's mis-read the party mood, and making his group the second-largest in the Senedd?
Or has he needlessly made some powerful enemies who might want to re-visit the whole affair in the weeks and months ahead?
This could be the beginning of the story rather than the end.