Jacob Rees-Mogg favourite among Tory members to take over from Theresa May... followed by 'other'
2 min read
Eccentric backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg is the most popular Conservative figure to seize the leadership from Theresa May, a new survey of party members has found.
The pro-Brexit North East Somerset MP found support from 22.5% of Tory members in a poll by the ConservativeHome website – with ‘Other’ coming second on 19%.
Mr Rees-Mogg has been buoyed by a wave of grassroots support in recent weeks after Mrs May lost the party its Commons majority at the general election in June.
The Catholic traditionalist – famous for having campaigned with his family nanny - is opposed to gay marriage and has been dubbed the MP “for the early twentieth century”.
He has suggested he has no interest in a pitch for the top job and indicated he may not even take a government role if offered one. But he is vying for a place on the powerful Brexit Select Committee.
ConservativeHome editor Paul Goodman wrote: “In our view, Jacob Rees-Mogg is the beneficiary of party member disillusion with the present senior options for replacing [Mrs May].”
He said the divisive EU referendum campaign, the failure of the general election and the “yearning” for clarity and authenticity after seven years in Government were all at play.
But he added: “For all his intelligence, wit and fearlessness, this site suspects that Rees-Mogg as leader would be unable to overleap the legend of the nanny and the poshness and the supposed out-of-touchness, and cut through in the marginal seats, especially in the Midlands and the North, that the Tories need to win their first full majority since 1987.
“He would be defined by an always cynical and sometimes feral media before he could define himself.”
Outspoken Tory MP Heidi Allen has said she would quit the party if Mr Rees-Mogg ever became its leader.
Brexit Secretary David Davis came fourth in the survey of 1,309 Tory members with 15% of the vote, with Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab coming fourth and fifth with about 7% each.
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