Diary – 21 May 2015

The aftermath of a general election is a difficult time for any party leader, unless like Mr Cameron you have received a shock majority. I had promised to stand down if I did not win in South Thanet, and confirmed this a few minutes after the result. My huge consolation prize was that Ukip took control of Thanet District Council with a working majority of ten. I am enormously proud of them, and expect them to be a beacon of good governance. However, the level of scrutiny they will be under as the first Ukip-controlled local authority will of course be enormous, as the establishment will be willing them to fail.

To the National Executive Council meeting. I said that I intended to resign, and the letter was being typed as I spoke. To my surprise the NEC were unanimous in their rejection of my plan and produced thousands of messages of support from Ukip members. Their view was that we had fought the most positive campaign of any party and that four million votes, given the unexpected Tory surge (induced by fear of the SNP), was a remarkable achievement. There was a real passion in the views expressed.

I left the meeting to sit in my office and think. In many ways, I was relieved that many years of non-stop toil were at an end. But now, not only was the party behind me, but our cherished goal of a referendum was on the table. There was little doubt in my mind that the referendum pledge would not have happened without Ukip, and that our hammering of the Labour vote had directly contributed to the Tory majority. The NEC were right: I had to continue.

At this point, the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a campaign office was released.