The Bad Boys of Brexit · Tales of Mischief, Mayhem & Guerrilla Warfare in the EU Referendum Campaign

Arron Banks enjoyed a life of happy anonymity flogging car insurance in Bristol until he dipped his toes into the shark - infested waters of politics - and decided to plunge right in. Charging into battle for Brexit, he couldn't believe how Westminster types behaved, and resolved to fight for the country's future his own way.

In the twelve months that followed, he tore up the political rule book, sinking £8 million of his personal fortune into a mad-cap campaign targeting ordinary voters up and down the country.

His anti-establishment crusade upset everyone from Posh Spice to NASA and left MPs open-mouthed. When his rabble- rousing antics landed him in hot water, he simply redoubled his efforts to wind up the targets.

From a David Brent-style office on an industrial estate in the south-west, Banks masterminded an extraordinary social media campaign against the tyrannies of Brussels that became a mass movement for Brexit.

Lurching from comedy to crisis (often several times a day), he found himself in the glare of the media spotlight fending off daily bollockings from Nigel Farage and po-faced MPs.

From talking Brexit with Trump and trying not to embarrass the Queen, to courting communists and wasting a fortune on a pop concert that descended into farce, this is his unexpurgated and highly entertaining diary of the referendum campaign.