UKIP
leader Nigel Farage has insisted his party will win seats at next year's Welsh
assembly election but has ruled out standing himself.
Speaking
to BBC's Sunday Politics Wales, Mr
Farage said Wales was now a "top priority" for the party.
He
said: "The people who are standing for the assembly in Cardiff are not doing so
as a protest movement.
"We're
doing so with a positive frame of mind and... to do our very best for the people
in Wales who elect us."
He
added: "If that means becoming a constructive opposition, or if it did mean in
some way helping in government, we'd be quite prepared to fulfil either
role."
When
asked if he would consider standing in the assembly election, he said: "It's a
lovely thought and great part of the world to live in.
"I
think in some ways life would be more comfortable living in Wales than living on
the edge of London as I am but unfortunately, I'll have to rule it out".
He
also called for a return of grammar schools in Wales, saying: "We want to make
sure that bright kids who come from poor backgrounds have the opportunity to do
as well as kids that come from the richest families in Wales.
"You
do that by giving people more opportunity through selective education."
"That
may seem very radical and it's not something that's been on the agenda in Wales
for a very long time but it's the kind of thing that UKIP will be talking
about".
