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UKIP plans to target voters in Labour’s heartlands in the South Wales Valleys with a dedicated branch, its Welsh MEP has revealed.

Speaking at the Eurosceptic party’s national conference in Doncaster, Nathan Gill said the party hoped to win over traditional Labour voters.

Labour “no longer represents people on the streets of Wales,” he said.

In May’s European elections UKIP narrowly took fewer votes than Labour in Wales.

It topped the poll in Conwy, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Wrexham, Vale of Glamorgan and Powys and came second to Labour in four other constituencies, including Merthyr Tydfil.

Mr Gill told BBC Wales that the party’s success in traditional Labour heartlands at the last European elections was a sign of changing attitudes.

He said: “For too long the Labour Party has taken Wales and the people of Wales for granted.

“Merthyr Tydfil like so many other towns and cities in Wales has woken to the fact that after 114 years and six Labour prime ministers, and 15 years of Labour rule in Cardiff, the Labour Party no longer speaks for or represents the man and woman on the street.”

In a speech which echoed party leader Nigel Farage, Mr Gill said that Labour had failed in its economic and education policies, reserving the biggest criticism for the “run down” NHS in Wales.