I was elected as a UKIP councillor in Portsmouth but as a small business owner the Conservatives are my natural home.
And here’s the thing: Banks knew it. Farage knew it. But they didn’t care. Their primary objective was to be seen to lead the campaign, not to win it.
With Brexit underway and with UKIP in freefall, it’s time for me to come back home.
The number of UKIP councillors there has fallen from 22 to just eight.
If the Conservatives had won 42 per cent from them too, our research projects that she would have won with a comfortable 42-seat majority.
Also: DUP dig in their heels in Stormont dispute; and Scottish Labour leadership challenger credits Corbyn with party’s revival.
Although Brexit has not yet taken place, it has already had an admirably invigorating effect on Parliament.
Those who voted against same-sex marriage were more likely to support Leadsom than those who voted for the legislation, whilst the opposite was true for Gove.
For Britain to prosper after Brexit, and Corbyn to be thwarted, the Northern Powerhouse is indispensable.
Churchill saw a century ago that the existing party machines will always prove the stronger, and UKIP and the SDP have confirmed this.
We will push back internally when ideologues call for sensible Ministers to be sacked because they are trying to act in the national interest over Brexit.
Plus: UKIP goes nuts. And: Chapman’s tweets might lead you to believe that he’s taken some sort of personality-changing drug.
While the responsibilities of government must be shouldered, there’s no doubting the need for a time of renewal – one as profound as in any period of opposition.