Did I ever really stand a chance in the by-election?
Four weeks after I decided to upend my life by standing as the Reform UK candidate at the Gorton and Denton by-election, I was in the small living room of a constituent listening to Nigel Farage give a lecture on phaleristics – the study and collection of war medals. The poor chap whose home we were visiting had barely processed who was at his door before Nigel spotted a collection of medals over his shoulder and charged into his living room to give him chapter and verse. ‘This one’s from 1914! The British Expeditionary Force! Incredibly rare!’ I couldn’t help but notice that, despite his wild enthusiasm at the prospect