From a politician who quit to become a turkey farmer to the family who relocated from the UK to Thailand, we find out what happens after you make a fundamental change. In May , I became leader of my local council, Pendle, in Lancashire. A year later, after nearly a decade in local politics, I quit. Alongside my council duties, I had been growing a business: milk and grocery delivery to , customers, locally and elsewhere in the country. My heart was constantly racing. I was single and had no time for a family.
After one hour work day, towards the end of , I told my mum I planned to quit; as soon as I uttered the words, I felt the weight lift. I moved to a barn conversion in Laneshawbridge, the Lancashire village I grew up in, and sold my stake in the business. For a while, I did nothing, which was an enormous and uncomfortable culture shift. I had studied rural enterprise at university, but the idea of working in agriculture got lost in business and politics.
Each day, I get up with my turkeys at dawn and close them in at dusk. When I was in politics, I thought it was the most important thing in the world. I was named Young Lancastrian of the Year in , but, when I look back at photos, I seem grey, thin, ill. Now, I spend hours outdoors. I lead a walking group, and clock up even more miles with my dog. I tend to my turkeys by the river, and potter around the village talking to people.
Before, my family were neglected. Now, my mum pops in for a brew after work, and I spend time with my baby niece. Handing over the keys to the town hall was a huge relief, yet I toy daily with going back β it feels like unfinished business. People who wanted my attention for years, whom I considered friends, disappeared.
I suspect I will look for another endeavour alongside this one, but it will have to be just right. Everyone tells me how lucky I am to have made the leap. It is never going to make me rich in money but I think, in time, it could make me rich in happiness. In the run-up to the Brexit referendum, the roads near our north Devon home were lined with red Vote Leave signs.
