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I decided to stand as an MEP candidate for the Brexit Party. Half my family think I'm mad. My dad, perhaps the second most committed Brexiteer I've met (after Mr Farage), told me: "Don't do it, son.You'll get death threats. What about your kids?" He had a point. To do this, I've had to surrender all my other work as a journalist. I'm doing this for free, out of pure conviction. It's terrifying. My missus, a Remainer, had a 1,000-yard stare for days.

But my mum decided it when she said: "You've got to do it, son. Who else is going to speak up for ordinary folk like us? Not any of that bloody lot in Westminster!" Mum always did know best.

Last week, I had my first taste of just how tough it can be in frontline politics, when I locked horns with Change UK candidate Gavin Esler on BBC Politics Live.

The evening before, I'd taken Esler to task on Twitter over an interview he'd given to the Huffington Post, headlined: "TV news must stop giving airtime to the village idiots of Brexit".

Being a TV pundit who called Brexit correctly and has stuck up for Brexiteers since the start, this stuck in my craw. I felt Change UK had moved from Project Fear to Project Smear. I was further annoyed by their MP Chuka Umunna who on Twitter decried the "xenophobia, hate and nationalism of the Brexit Party". It's a tired, lazy stereotype that wilfully ignores the immense diversity of our candidates. In London alone, where Esler is standing, we are fielding Muslim, Jewish and Christian candidates.

Meanwhile, in addition to Esler, a career-long BBC journalist, Change UK is tabling former MPs, a QC and Boris Johnson's sister. Let's face it, that has all the diversity of a Waitrose café!

The next day I made my political debut on BBC Daily Politics - the formidableAndrew Neil chairing - alongside Esler.

It's fair to say it got feisty.