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Former Ukip MP Mark Reckless is poised to make a political return as a member of the National Assembly, we can reveal.

Mr Reckless, who is currently Ukip’s director of policy, has put himself forward as an Assembly candidate and is likely to be the party’s number one candidate in one of the five Welsh electoral regions.

Ukip’s Wales MEP Nathan Gill is also seeking election to the Assembly, and will almost certainly be top of the party’s North Wales regional list.

Passed first stage of selection procedure

Mr Reckless, was one of two Conservative MPs who defected to Ukip during the last Parliament and resigned their seats to fight by-elections. He represented the Kent constituency of Rochester and Strood.

In the November 2014 by-election, Mr Reckless defeated the Conservative candidate Kelly Tolhurst by a majority of 2,920. But at the general election in May, Ms Tolhurst defeated Mr Reckless with a majority of more than 7,000.

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Under Ukip party rules, people seeking to be party candidates are not permitted to campaign via the media when the selection process is under way.

But a senior Ukip source confirmed that Mr Reckless had applied to be an Assembly candidate, and last weekend had successfully passed through the first stage of the selection procedure.

'If ordinary party members made the final choice, they'd vote for their friends'

The party source told us: “Next May’s Welsh Assembly election is incredibly important for us. We know that we are likely to win at least one list seat in each of the five regions, and we have to ensure that we select the best possible candidates so we are able to make an impact.

"Ordinary party members have had a say in assessing the potential candidates last weekend, but the final decision on who will be our ‘top 20’ for the regional lists will be made by party officials and the national executive committee.

"That way, we will get the best candidates in place. Unfortunately, if ordinary party members were allowed to make the final choice, they would vote for their friends.”

MORE: Ukip's Mark Reckless attacks Welsh Labour's 'soft nationalism' and tips his party for 10 Assembly seats

Party members will, however, pick constituency candidates, although Ukip is not expected to win any of the 40 “first-past-the-post” seats. Regional AMs are elected by a system of proportional representation.

'Strong candidate'

The Ukip source said the selection of list candidates would be carried out on an all-Wales basis, with those in the top five slots able to choose which region they stand in: “Mark Reckless is obviously a very strong candidate, as is Nathan Gill,” said the source.

MORE: Ukip council candidate quits party after saying immigrants should be 'gassed'

Other favoured potential candidates are understood to be Ukip Wales campaign manager Sam Gould, who stood in Caerphilly at the general election; the party’s head of media Alex Phillips, an ex-BBC journalist who used to work for former Ukip Wales MEP John Bufton; and John Rees-Evans, who was the general election candidate in Cardiff South & Penarth and made the bizarre claim while talking to protesters that his pet horse had been raped by a homosexual donkey.

Ukip will release the names of its regional list candidates before the end of October.