Nigel Farage today hailed a night of 'breakthroughs' for Ukip as the party won its first ever seats in the Welsh Assembly and revived Neil Hamilton's political career.

Mr Farage said his party was 'really biting hard' into Labour's traditional vote and as the results rolled in, six list seats were confirmed in the Senedd - including for the former Tory MP embroiled int the 1990s cash for questions scandal.

Mark Reckless was another former Tory to make an electoral comeback under the Ukip banner in Wales as the party enjoyed a good election night amid debate on the EU referendum.

Ukip was also expected to pick up seats on the London Assembly later and has so far won an additional 20 council seats across England.

Labour was today facing warnings it was 'complacent' in the face of the Ukip threat.

Neil Hamilton, pictured at a Ukip spring conference, revived his political career with victory for Ukip in the Welsh Assembly elections

The news Mr Hamilton had won a place in the Senedd was greeted with horror by some voters on social media - one of whom pointed out he lived in Wiltshire.

Charlie Evans said: 'NEIL HAMILTON IS GOING TO BE LIVING IN WILTSHIRE? Representing Mid and West Wales? What a joke.'

Stefan Simanowitz said: 'When did Neil Hamilton go from "disgraced former Tory MP" to "UKIP big hitter" & Wales, what were you thinking?'

Mr Farage insisted people had been turned off by Jeremy Corbyn's extremism and lack of patriotism.

In the wake of the recent rows over alleged anti-Semitism within Labour, Mr Farage claimed that 'nasty' and extreme views went 'right to the top' of Mr Corbyn's party.

Mr Hamilton today acknowledged he had not been Mr Farage's first choice of candidate but said Ukip would come together.

He told the BBC: 'Nigel is a democrat and I was selected by the overwhelming vote of the party members in Wales for a winnable place on the Assembly list and thank goodness now I am an elected member of the Assembly.

'We will work together as a team regardless of things that have divided us hitherto.

'This is nothing new in politics, you will have seen it millions of times the same as I did in the Conservative party I was a member of John Major’s Government that tore itself to pieces over the years.

'I was a member of Margaret Thatcher’s government and we had all sorts of divisions in that but ultimately you have to get on with your colleagues and make a success of public life.'

Speaking on Sky News as the first election results rolled in, Mr Farage said: 'How many gains we are going to get in England, I can't say, but overall it's a night when Ukip's going to make breakthroughs and a night when Ukip really bites hard into that old Labour vote.'

Twitter used were a mixture of bemused and horrified at the prospect of Neil Hamilton returning to elected office in Wales

Mr Farage added: 'In the early days of Ukip, we picked up our votes from disenchanted Conservatives. I think the general election last year showed - and the results tonight already are showing me - that the growth in the Ukip vote is coming more from Labour than it is from anybody else.

'I feel there are many that will look at Jeremy Corbyn, look at the Labour Party, see it's become very extreme, see it as not being particularly patriotic and not really standing up for them.

'We don't tolerate anti-Semitism, we don't tolerate extremism.

'When we find people in Ukip who say or do nasty things, we get rid of them. They nearly always occur at very junior levels - in the Labour Party, this stuff goes right to the very top.'

Ukip was expecting to make gains in England and had expected to secure 'a minimum of five' seats on the Welsh Assembly and one in Northern Ireland.

Mr Farage had suggested he had a 'slightly better than 50 per cent chance' of picking up seats in Scotland - but was disappointed when the Holyrood results were finalised.

Mr Farage added: 'There's going to be a big reward for us in Wales, I think tomorrow in London we will break into the Assembly there.

'We are the third biggest party now in the United Kingdom by a country mile.

'We are about three times the size in terms of votes of the Liberal Democrats and that will show through in these elections across the United Kingdom, including in Northern Ireland, where we will be the only UK-wide party that wins a seat in Stormont.'

Ukip leader Nigel Farage, pictured today in Westminster, said it had been a 'breakthrough night' for his party as they secured seats on the Welsh Assembly for the first time

Labour Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News: 'Sometimes Labour politicians have said in the corridors of Westminster 'Don't worry about Ukip, they hit the Tories harder than Labour'.

'I don't believe that. I think the Labour Party have got to take the Ukip challenge very seriously.

'The way to do that is to demonstrate that Labour politicians and Labour councillors work best for communities, because what tends to happen when you get Ukip councillors in an area, they don't really stand up for the community and fight for their constituents.'