No you have not missed a footie championship. The heading refers to the EU Parliamentary Elections last week, in which I stood and following which have been returned to Brussels as an MEP, for the Brexit Party, representing London.
I have been in business all my adult life; interested in politics and politically aware but not active. Brexit changed that for me. I was motivated to stand not so much by my belief in Brexit (in which I do wholeheartedly believe) but by Project Fear, which continues to this day and by the Government’s and Parliament’s inability to deliver on their undertaking to do as the people directed in 2016. Indeed, having witnessed our Parliamentarians in action, I can only conclude that the institution is in contempt of the people.
It has been a whirlwind of activity for me since I first met Nigel Farage in late March. Nigel, by the way, is an extremely charming, affable, focused and committed individual. Nothing at all like the way he is painted by his detractors. I am not an apologist for Nigel but while I have your ear, I feel obliged to make the point!
Anyway, I threw my hat in the ring at my very first meeting with him. Little did I know then what lay in store and that our brand new party would top the polls, firmly kicking the Tories and the Labour Party off their perches. Never in the history of the party have the Tories done so badly in an election.
My campaign and indeed that of the Brexit Party’s was launched on 12 April in an industrial facility in Coventry, at the heart of the Midlands. I admit I was nervous before my maiden speech. I have spoken publicly many times but always on behalf of my business, not on politics. At
Having come through my first engagement I felt emboldened and comfortable with the media attention I was subsequently given. The campaign was exhausting but exhilarating. There was hardly a day when I did not appear in print or on air, either the radio or TV. These latter appearances were typically for a short period, not long enough to develop any arguments for our position. One thing that became clear early on is that the media is typically not interested in detail – soundbites seem to be the order of the day.
The only real down point of the campaign was when a group of four men, called Led by Donkeys (I never figured out who they thought/ think the donkeys to be), insinuated, on billboards across London, that my belief in Brexit was motivated by a desire to make money out of a weakening Sterling and buying UK properties on the cheap. It did not occur to them that I am unable to move markets (oh, if only that were the case!) and that buying UK properties, as First Property Group has been doing on behalf of funds it manages, is in fact a statement of confidence in the UK. Ho hum, for what it is worth I think their attacks on me backfired.
So, after multiple media appearances and a lot of tweeting, 23 May, the day of the election, eventually arrived. Sadly results were not announced until three days later because we had to wait for all EU member countries to vote and their polling days varied between 23 May and 26 May. I needed that interregnum. The two or three days following the results announcement were in fact the most tiring. The night of 26 May itself was an all-nighter. It started in City Hall, where the announcement was made and after which I was, as indeed were the other MEPs elected, inundated by media attention. I managed to get away from City Hall by around mid-night but thereafter moved from radio stations to TV channels seemingly seamlessly through the night and the following day.
To make matters worse, I had an early morning flight to Warsaw on 28 May. It is in Warsaw that I am writing this missive and fighting back my drooping eyelids. So many apologies if my prose is rambling and/ or subject to errors.Brussels next stop…
