Vote Leave was the most successful electoral campaign in British history. Against the opposition of all three political parties, it won, achieving the largest vote for anything in this country, ever. But voting to leave is only the essential start, not the fulfilment, and now there is no Vote Leave. After victory, the campaign’s leaders went their various ways. Some were lulled into a false sense of security by Mrs May’s clear declaration of Brexit intent, and by the fact that one of their top colleagues, Stephen Parkinson, is now installed in 10 Downing Street. Nick Timothy, now all-powerful in Mrs May’s counsels, was running the New Schools Network during the campaign. Its offices are in Westminster Tower, the same building as Vote Leave, and he used to drop in and smile benignly on its proceedings. So, after the result, the campaign has friends in high places. But since Mrs May had been a Remainer and David Cameron had forbidden any preparatory work on the Leave option, no one inside the system knew what to do next.
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