THE number of Ukip members in the Welsh Assembly has dropped to three following another resignation.

Although seven Ukip AMs were elected in May 2016, the party has been hit with a spate of resignations, with North Wales' Michelle Brown the latest to walk out.

This means only three Ukip AMs remain - the minimum number needed to form an official group in the Assembly.

MORE NEWS:

The people most wanted by Gwent Police

Petition launched to save Greenmeadow Community Farm from cuts

The transformative £350m Cwmbran hospital that almost never was

In a statement Ms Brown said she had decided to quit after the party's leader Gerard Batten, as well as Assembly group leader Gareth Bennett and ex-Assembly group leader Neil Hamilton, expressed support for anti-Islam campaigner Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - also known as Tommy Robinson.

"I feared the voice of reason was fading in Ukip and the day may arrive when the party would become an organisation I could no longer stomach," she said.

Mr Yaxley-Lennon is the founder of far-right campaign group the English Defence League and has frequently hit the headlines for his comments regarding Islam.

Calling the Assembly Ukip group "a boy's club", Ms Brown continued: "Ukip used to be the party of the forgotten and it was of course the party of Brexit

"But at the most crucial time for Brexit, when Ukip should have been holding Westminster to account for trying to thwart the referendum result, the party has been instead discussing individual politicians’ pet projects such as attacking Islam and abolishing the Welsh Assembly.

"Gareth Bennett, Neil Hamilton and Gerrard Batten are letting the people of Britain down."

Responding to Ms Brown's comments, Mr Bennett called for her to "do the honourable thing" and resign as an AM.

Mr Batten also called on Ms Brown to resign and described her as "singularly ineffective as a member of the Welsh Assembly or in assisting Ukip build support in Wales."

And Mr Hamilton, who is running for Ukip in the Newport West by-election, criticised Ms Brown's attendance record.

"It seems she has jumped ship to avoid facing censure from the group for her clear lack of commitment to her party and her constituents," he said.

First to quit Ukip in the Assembly after the party's first group of AMs were elected in May 2016 was North Wales AM Nathan Gill, who left shortly after the election to sit as an Independent. He quit the Assembly in December 2017, and was replaced by Mandy Jones, who herself immediately left the group and now sits as an Independent.

South Wales Argus:

All the Ukip AMs who have quit the group since 2016 (clockwise, from top left) Nathan Gill, Mark Reckless, Michelle Brown, Caroline Jones, Mandy Jones

South Wales East AM Mark Reckless was also elected on Ukip's list, but left the party in in April 2017 to join the Assembly's Conservative group, and South Wales West's Caroline Jones left in September last year after being ousted as group leader by Mr Bennett, who represents South Wales Central.

The three remaining members are Mr Bennett, Mr Hamilton, who represents South Wales West, and South Wales East AM David Rowlands.

South Wales Argus:

The three remaining Ukip AMs (L-R) Neil Hamilton, Gareth Bennett, David Rowlands