Panto star Neil Hamilton is to be given a top role by Nigel Farage Nigel Farage may be about to reward his old mate Neil Hamilton with a plum job in Brussels after the Euro elections: I am reliably informed that the Ukip leader wants to make him his next chief of staff or deputy secretary general of the party's group in the European Parliament. The salary for such an "AD" or advisory position is generous, and with allowances, such as ex-patriation and household expenses, could easily make Hamilton around £10,000 a month after tax. Christine Hamilton tells me that, pre-occupied with clearing up after a big Ukip fund-raising event at their London home over the Bank Holiday, neither she nor her husband will be minded to make any comment at all. Marta Andreasen, the Ukip MP who defected to the Conservatives and no great fan of Hamilton, says that, if it such a job for him comes to pass, it would be another nail in her former party's coffin. There's sadly nothing that the rank and file can do to block such an appointment, but Hamilton, coming with all the baggage that he does, would be, I believe, hugely unpopular among the members and donors. It would put the message out that Ukip is a party only for self-publicists. It had initially been thought that Farage wanted Hamilton as his chief executive after Will Gilpin vacated the position after just eight months. It now looks likely that the position will remain unfilled as Farage has said he wants to "get a grip" on the party himself. Gilpin said that Farage's reluctance to accept professional management meant that Ukip would remain "a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs," who never fulfilled their political potential. He said that Farage "has to have less power" if Ukip is to become a professional political organisation. Hamilton, who has been appearing in pantos with his wife, was rejected by the Ukip membership to stand in the South West for the Euro elections.