Farage fury at ‘dishonourable’ defector

FORMER MP Mark Reckless was accused of “dishonourable behaviour” yesterday after quitting Ukip to return to the Tory fold.

The Welsh Assembly member followed his close friend Douglas Carswell in leaving the anti-Brussels party to become an independent.

He pledged to sit with the Tory group in Cardiff but insisted he was not rejoining the Conservative Party.

A spokesman for the Ukip group in the Welsh Assembly said last night: “This is a slap in the face for the voters of South East Wales who voted for Ukip in 2016 in the good faith they were electing a Ukip Assembly Member. If Mark Reckless has any sense of honour he will resign his seat without delay.”

And former party leader Nigel Farage said: “I have always liked Mark Reckless, but if he thinks he can just leave after being elected on a list system, that is very dishonourable behaviour.

Sensation

“He is clearly close to Douglas Carswell, I guess some kind of pressure’s been put on him.”

Mr Reckless caused a sensation three years ago when he followed Mr Carswell in defecting from the Tories to Ukip. He won a subsequent by-election to stay on as Ukip MP for his constituency of Rochester and Strood but then lost the Commons seat to the Tories at the 2015 general election.

He has since been Ukip’s head of policy and was elected to the Welsh Assembly last year.

Announcing his resignation from Ukip yesterday, Mr Reckless praised “steadfast” Theresa May and the Welsh Conservative group.

Mr Reckless’s decision to vote with the Conservatives means they overtake Plaid Cymru as the second largest party in the Assembly, making them the official opposition to Labour.