He can’t load the dishwasher ... but there’s one job I think my husband could do

F Or the past couple of weeks there has been a bit of an elephant on this page. I’ve been doing my best to dance around it — but, given recent events, I just don’t think I can ignore it any more. My husband, Michael gove, the Environment Secretary, is running for PM.

It has not been an easy decision to take. Well, not for me, at any rate. I think for Michael it’s a bit of a no-brainer. As a leader of the campaign to leave the EU, he is determined to deliver the result of the referendum — not least because it’s what he believes in, but also because he has invested so much in it, personally and politically.

Of course, he did his best under Theresa May — a woman for whom I know he has huge respect and admiration, despite everything. While others threw in the towel, he stayed on, not only to try to secure a deal, but also because of his work at Environment.

As the size of the green vote this weekend proves, the future of the planet is something people are deeply engaged in. Or, as our elder child put it: ‘Saving Brexit is one thing, Dad; saving the planet is much more important in the long run.’ And she’s right, of course. no point securing a good deal if we’re all drowning in plastic.

now that Mrs May has finally been forced to concede, Michael has put his name forward. He has always been passionate about politics, and in particular taking Britain out of the EU. As he said to me the other day, watching Parliament drive Brexit into a cul-de-sac over the past few years has been excruciating.

‘ You just can’t help thinking: “Aargh, if only I could just get my hands on the steering wheel.” ’

W Hen I pointed out to him that a motoring analogy was perhaps not the best one for a man who took seven — yes, seven — attempts to pass his driving test, he laughed and admitted that perhaps I had a point. But I know what he means.

Seeing the result of a democratic vote turned into little short of a civil war has driven me mad with frustration and, at times, fury. Indeed, there have been times when I have been ready to give up and give in.

I voted Leave not for the reasons cited by those who like to characterise us 17.4 million Leavers as bigots and xenophobes, but because, as a former expat who grew up in Europe and whose immediate family still lives there, I do not view Brussels through rose-tinted spectacles.

Yet I’ve now even entertained the thought of revoking Article 50 altogether. Anything, frankly, to put an end to the division and anger pulling this country apart.

Michael, I know, has never felt that way for one single second. His Euroscepticism is as deeply ingrained in him as his love of the United Kingdom. And while he is wary of the consequences of a no- deal Brexit, he is equally determined that Britain will, one way or another, leave the EU.

Like all husbands, Michael has his flaws: a fondness for corduroy, an inability to go anywhere (including dinner) without a book, a passion for Wagnerian opera, an obsession with Strictly, an entirely irrational dislike of houseplants and, of course, the usual pathological male inability to operate a dishwasher.

But one thing he cannot be accused of in respect of Brexit is giving up. Indeed, I’d go so far as to say that, for him, delivering the result of the 2016 referendum has become more important than almost anything else — and I’ll be backing him to the hilt. Every spouse wants to support their partner in life’s endeavours.

But there is also family life to think about; not least the small matter of staying sane.

And, as I discovered last time Michael stuck his head above the parapet, during the 2016 referendum, things can get awful mad in politics.

Quite aside from our own issues, I cannot recall a time in my life when Westminster has felt this feverish and toxic; when public anger has been so fierce and so acutely felt, or, for that matter, so justifiable. As we have seen from this recent European election — an election which never should have taken place — people feel deeply let down.

For Michael, this is not just about succeeding where others have failed: it’s about honouring the result of the referendum.

And to do that he has to persuade the party and the people that not only is he the right man to unite the Conservatives and deliver Brexit, he is also someone who can, in the long term, restore faith in politics. For me, the challenge is very different but just as personal. I have to find a way of protecting the family, and particularly our two children, from the inevitable repercussions. From a world that may well see them not as human beings but as potential and legitimate targets in the greatest of ideological battles.

That, I think, will be hard, given the strength of feeling in this feral social media age of ours. We are all protective when it comes to our own, and I am no exception.

Like any parent, Michael also feels these concerns acutely. But I also know that part of him believes that in politics there are some things that transcend even the deeply personal; that the overall good of the country requires certain sacrifices.

And he’s right, of course. This is not just about one person, one family: it is about the country as a whole. About a Britain that has been torn apart by the question of Brexit. And about the urgent need to resolve the rift in the most civilised way possible.

T reating those with whom you profoundly disagree with respect and consideration is not a mark of weakness, it’s basic civility — something that has been in woefully short supply of late.

One of the reasons Mrs May’s task was so impossible was because of the sheer tribal vitriol perpetrated by those in Parliament and beyond who wanted to either undermine the result of the referendum altogether or interpret it so aggressively as to only accept a no-deal exit.

Uncoupling Britain from the rules and restrictions of the EU was never going to be straightforward. It requires patience, diligence, conviction and, yes, compromise. All qualities that Michael has in spades. Especially, as you can imagine, patience, being married to yours truly.

If he wins, he faces a Herculean task, not only in delivering Brexit but also in restoring the battered fortunes of the Conservative Party and keeping that creepy communist Corbyn out of no 10.

Can he do it? I hope so. But this much I do know: if the Party and the country puts their trust in him, he will do everything within his power to see this one through.

I, meanwhile, shall be battening down the hatches.