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Neil Hamilton has defended fellow Ukip National Assembly candidate Gareth Bennett, who has been accused of a "shocking slur" after criticising the multiracial nature of Cardiff and saying Eastern Europeans were responsible for some rubbish problems .

The former Tory MP said said unemployed Mr Bennett was "a nice chap" and "would make a very good AM" and said he was not a "racist or unpleasant person".

Both Mr Bennett, Ukip’s lead regional candidate in South Wales Central, and Mr Hamilton, Ukip's lead candidate in Mid and West Wales, are on course to become AMs in May.

'He has been misinterpreted'

Asked whether Mr Bennett, who made his controversial comments in an interview with WalesOnline , should keep his candidacy, Mr Hamilton said: “Most definitely. I think he has been misinterpreted.

“Maybe he could have phrased his comments a bit better, but he’s not an experienced politician.

“A lot of Ukip’s public appeal is based on the fact that many of its candidates are not experienced politicians.

“I’ve met him several times. He’s not a racist or an unpleasant person. In fact he’s a nice chap and I think he’ll make a very good AM.

“Anyway, the fuss seems to have died down. It was a squib. I don’t see the regional list candidates being changed now.”

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Mr Hamilton’s own political career was derailed in 1997 when he lost his Tatton seat amid allegations he had broken Parliamentary rules by putting questions to Ministers for payment on behalf of former Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed.

Since then Mr Hamilton has become a TV celebrity with his wife Christine – and he is now poised to make a dramatic return to politics in Cardiff Bay.

As well as standing in the Plaid Cymru-held seat of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, he will be Ukip’s lead candidate in the Mid and West Wales region, where polls suggest he is virtually guaranteed to be elected.

Another Ukip Assembly candidate, Llyr Powell, has been very critical of Mr Bennett’s comments, which suggested immigrants from Eastern Europe were responsible for rubbish in Cardiff’s City Road area, dubbed Cardiff council’s Labour leader Phil Bales “brain dead” and revealed that he doesn’t approve of knocking on voters’ doors during election campaigns.

Mr Powell, due to stand in Neath and on the South Wales West regional list, says he will withdraw if Mr Bennett is not deselected. He also says around 15 Ukip candidates have called for Mr Bennett to go.

Mr Powell, who has helped draft Ukip’s yet-to-be-published Assembly manifesto said: “My position remains that if Gareth Bennett is confirmed as a candidate, I will be withdrawing both as candidate for Neath and on the South Wales West regional list. His comments were wholly unacceptable.”

Mr Hamilton, a member of Ukip’s ruling National Executive Committee, said the body was not due to meet until next Monday – April 4 – to finally ratify its regional Assembly candidates.

Nominations for the May 5 election, in which Ukip is currently predicted to win seven seats, close just three days later.

Ukip sources say that Mr Hamilton and party leader Nigel Farage can’t stand each other. When this was put to Mr Hamilton, he responded: “You may say that. I couldn’t possibly comment.”

It has also been suggested that he would like to be leader of the Assembly Ukip group.

Asked about that, he said: “When Nigel Farage appointed Nathan Gill as the leader of Ukip Wales, it made perfect sense. As the MEP, he was the most senior Ukip elected politician in Wales.

“At present I am concentrating on the election. I may get elected in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr: people there may like me more than the polls suggest. But I agree it’s more likely that I’ll be elected on the regional list.

“In terms of the group leadership, we’ll have to see who is elected and take it from there.”

Mr Hamilton also hasn’t ruled out employing his wife on his taxpayer-funded AM’s allowance.

“Christine manages everything in my life,” he said.

“We worked together very well when I was an MP. Whether she wants to take on a full-time paid role at her age I don’t know. We shall have to see.”