Diane James will meet UKIP's AMs to try and unite the party in Wales

Diane James is meeting with UKIP's Welsh Assembly Members to try and get work through the divisions that have plagued the group since the elections this year.

Neil Hamilton has entered Welsh politics with the tact and diplomacy of Donald Trump (ok, maybe not that bad) and in a few short months came close to losing the party one of its MEPs and an AM and then turned his attention on the chairman of Caerphilly branch who works for Nathan Gill and has been critical of Hamilton.

Nathan Gill remains chairman of UKIP Wales, a post that is appointed by the leader of the national party whilst Neil Hamilton is leader of the UKIP group in the Senedd which is a position he was elected to by the party's AMs. Both have called for the party to unite behind our new leader, let's hope that includes the pair of them!

Nathan Gill resigns UKIP whip in the Welsh Assembly

Nathan Gill has resigned from the UKIP group in Welsh Assembly and will sit as an independent AM.

He made the decision to resign from the group after weeks of infighting which almost resulted in him being expelled from the party but group leader Neil Hamilton's reaction points to the root of the problem.

We'll have to do our best to survive without him - we don't see him much in the assembly so I don't think well notice much difference

There is a time and a place for hardballing rebellious members and this is neither the time nor is the Sennedd the place. Having won the EU referendum, we need to be showing voters that we are the party that can make Brexit happen and happen right. With the pointless infighting in Wales, the shambolic leadership election and a string of ridiculous decisions by the NEC we appear to be anything but competent.

Welsh members will decide Nathan Gill's fate

Nathan Gill has been given a temporary reprieve by the NEC over his double jobbing as an AM and MEP. He will be allowed to keep both jobs until the membership in Wales are given an opportunity to vote on the matter.

The NEC had previously issued an ultimatum to Gill, instructing him to stand down from either the Welsh Assembly or the EU Parliament or face expulsion from the party. He refused as the only person left on the UKIP list who isn't now an AM resigned from UKIP to campaign against the Welsh Assembly meaning that his replacement as an MEP would either be someone who isn't a UKIP member any more or would have to be chosen in a by-election at a cost of about £5m to the taxpayer.

In deciding to refer the decision to the membership it would appear that the NEC want to be seen to be addressing complaints that they aren't involving the membership in the decision making process. It's a shame that it's taken a campaign to remove them all from office to remind them that they're working for the members and not the other way round.

I have every confidence that Welsh members will back Nathan Gill and appreciate the value that being an MEP can bring to Brexit planning in the Welsh Assembly in a way that the NEC apparently can't.

Deadline day for Nathan Gill to resign as an AM or MEP

Today is the deadline the NEC have set for Nathan Gill to resign as either an MEP or AM and he has made it clear he intends to do neither.

At the time of the Welsh Assembly elections earlier this year Gill agreed that he would stand down as an MEP if he was elected as an AM but since the referendum has declined to do so.

Gill was the face of UKIP in Wales during the Assembly elections and is leader of UKIP Wales. He has a huge following in the grassroots Welsh party but Neil Hamilton controls the political side of things.

Neil Hamilton, who is leader of the UKIP delegation at the Welsh Assembly, says that the two jobs are not compatible and that Gill can't represent Wales when he's in Brussels. However, it appears that Hamilton can not only represent Wales but lead UKIP's AMs from his mansion in Wiltshire.

If the jobs of AM and MEP were incompatible then it would be illegal to hold both positions. As a former MP, Hamilton will be aware that there is a legal bar to sitting as both an MP and MEP due to the two roles being considered incompatible. No such bar exists for members of the devolved governments who can not only sit as MEPs but as MPs in addition to their role in the Sennedd, Scottish Parliament or Stormont.

There is nobody left on the UKIP party list who is still a member and not an AM to take Gill's place as an MEP if he resigned from that position. The NEC believe that a by-election would be held to replace him but the relevant regulations say that the next person on the list as at the last election will be invited to take the vacant seat with no requirement for them to still be a member of the party whose list they appeared on. That means UKIP's vacant seat would go to a former member who resigned from the party to stand against UKIP in the last election.

This is another fight that the NEC has started that didn't need to be. We will likely lose an MEP and AM today because Gill is determined not to stand down. There is no benefit to the party from Gill resigning one of his roles but there is considerable damage from losing a high profile elected representative and the collateral damage that will cause. It is the latest in a string of poor decisions that show that the NEC is not fit for purpose and that a fresh election is needed for existing members to seek a mandate from the membership or for new members to come on board.