UKIP: Neil Hamilton

Are we seeing an effort to undermine existing structures in UKIP South West?

Sometimes UKIP member Neil Hamilton has Farage's support for his NEC candidacy, and has been shoehorned into place as Chair of UKIP Wiltshire with barely a nod to due process. Hamilton has "not ruled out" standing as an MEP in 2014.

Hamilton is a friendly chap, and enjoys good relations with the membership, to whom he gives a lot of his time. But he does seem to carry a lot of baggage....

In 2002, the BBC alleged that he had given a "Hitler Salute" whilst on a visit to Germany. He successfully sued for libel, but then admitted that he gave "a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache."

During a debate, Greville Janner said he that lost half of his family in the Holocaust. Hamilton allegedly replied "Unfortunately, the wrong half".

In 1994 Hamilton was accused of taking cash for tabling parliamentary questions. He was found guilty, an enquiry found the evidence that Hamilton took cash from Mohammed Al-Fayed for asking questions was "compelling" and that he was unlikely to have taken less than £25,000. He resigned his position as Corporate Affairs Minister. The incident resulted in a court case, which ultimately led to his bankruptcy.

Edwina Currie, the former health minister, told the cash-for-questions inquiry how Hamilton had been unmoved, in May 1988, by a set of photographs showing cancers that could be caused to young people by a product he was promoting.

In 1997, Hamilton lost the 4th safest Tory seat in the country, Tatton, to independent anti-corruption campaigner Martin Bell.

In 2001, Hamilton was arrested on suspicion of rape. The allegations against him were unfounded, but such an incident, in the context of someone with such a dubious track record, will always be likely to resurface in the media.

And so, we might ask, is Farage trying to promote Hamilton for altruistic reasons, or is he setting him up to damage the South West region by foisting a controversial candidate on them?