ONE of Ukip’s rising stars has been left red-faced after social media messages emerged showing he criticised Nigel Farage’s party at the last election.

Blair Smillie had hurriedly deleted posts and made his social media profiles private yesterday, after Labour revealed the embarrassing posts.

Mr Smillie left the Labour Party — which his great grandfather helped establish alongside Keir Hardie — and joined Ukip before May’s European elections.

But in the same week he wrote on Twitter: “Looking at my postal vote form and choice of 11 parties. Anyone got a pin?”

He also posted a mocking message saying: “Ukip can’t even get the basics right” after it was revealed they hired an Irish builder to play a British worker in a Euro election campaign broadcast.

The confused defector even shared posts by the “In Defence of Marxism” Facebook page and promoted George Galloway’s Respect party before joining Ukip.

Labour said the messages were evidence that the candidate for one of Ukip’s top target seats in Wales is simply an “opportunist.”

Welsh Labour wrote on Twitter: “To try and hide his recent criticism of his own party, Ukip candidate Blair Smillie deleted his Facebook page and tweets #Oops #RedHanded.”

Mr Smillie spoke at Ukip’s recent Doncaster conference in a bid to help the party appeal to working-class voters.

He described Ukip as “the type of party that Keir Hardie and Robert Smillie dreamed about” and claimed it supported rail renationalistion and the coal industry.

Mr Farage made clear to journalists thought that those positions are not his party’s policy.

lukejames@peoples-press.com