Guido understands that four Welsh Assembly members will be defecting to the Brexit Party tomorrow at a rally in Merthyr Tydfil, following Mark Reckless’ announcement that he has left the Conservative Group in the Assembly today. Three independents; Caroline Jones, Mandy Jones, and Mark Reckless are expected to join the Brexit Party along with UKIP AM David Rowlands. All four were originally elected as UKIP Assembly Members before the referendum. Brexit Party sources are playing down the story for now…

The defection of David Rowlands (one of the only three AMs to still sit as UKIP after seven were elected in 2016) means that the number of UKIP members in the Assembly will drop to just two, Neil Hamilton and Gareth Bennett. That takes them below the threshold to form an official group and receive resources from the assembly. Whokip?