Farage defends central selection of Assembly candidates

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has defended his party's decision to select regional candidates centrally for next May's Welsh election.

Polls show that UKIP could win a handful of seats in the Assembly most likely via the regional list system which distributes seats according to the proportion of votes won.

Local parties across Wales will be free to select candidates for constituency votes, although they stand a much lower chance of being elected.

But list candidates will be chosen by a committee of the UK party's National Executive asI reported in June.

There have been reports that some local UKIP branches are concerned that prominent UKIP figures who've previously had little or nothing to do with Wales are in line for selection.

Those named include former Kent MP Mark Reckless, who's writing the party's Welsh manifesto, another former MP Neil Hamilton, who was born in Wales and senior press officer Alexandra Phillips who's worked for both ITV and BBC Wales.

I've been speaking to Nigel Farage as UKIP holds its annual conference in Doncaster.

I asked him about concerns over the selection process. You can watch his answers below:

UKIP performed well in Wales in the UK General Election and Nigel Farage believes that the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader opens up 'a whole new flank of potential Labour votes' for UKIP in Wales

I also asked Nigel Farage what sort of a rôle any UKIP Assembly members who are elected in May will play in the Senedd chamber, constructive or disruptive?

You can see more of my interview with Nigel Farage in Sharp End, Monday 1040pm on ITV Cymru Wales.