He is, arguably, the most Tory of all Tories and has certainly never been concerned about going against the party line. Even during a general election campaign Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg is still showing his rebellious streak.
Speaking with the i's David Parlsey Mogg admits that the Tories are on track for defeat at the next election.
Speaking with the i's David Parlsey Mogg admits that the Tories are on track for defeat at the next election.
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00:00 I'm not going to sit here and say things to you that you will laugh at,
00:03 but I can't look you in the eye and say you're on course to a fourth victory.
00:09 Where we are is 403 seats for Labour, 155 for Conservatives, 154 majority.
00:19 Worst Conservative result in a century. How seriously do you take that?
00:24 The fact is that for a Conservative, whether it's that particular poll or other polls,
00:29 we are behind in the polls and the polls are indicating a large Labour majority.
00:33 So what's that mean? It means we have to make a good offer to the voters,
00:37 and that means a Conservative offer, and that we have to work hard on the ground,
00:42 the ground campaign, the knocking on doors, delivering leaflets, all that goes with normal campaigning.
00:46 That background shouldn't put us off, shouldn't demotivate us,
00:50 it should re-motivate us to work that bit harder.
00:53 Is it for you still about winning or reducing the loss?
01:00 Oh, it's a very good question. If you take the polls at face value,
01:06 then there is an argument to be put to voters to say,
01:09 do you really want a Labour majority that is the biggest in the history of the Labour Party?
01:14 If you look at 2017, when Theresa May looked as if she was on course for an enormous majority,
01:20 voters suddenly thought that actually they'd take a bit of a punt on Jeremy Corbyn,
01:24 because they didn't want the Conservatives to have a huge majority.
01:26 So there is that argument, but in an election, you always want to win,
01:30 that it is better to have a Conservative government if you're a Conservative than a non-Conservative government,
01:35 and you must work towards that.
01:37 You don't sound convinced that the Conservatives are going to win, though.
01:40 Well, I can read the opinion polls as well as everybody else,
01:43 and I'm not going to sit here and say things to you that you will laugh at.
01:46 The opinion polls are there. I think there is a lot that we can campaign for,
01:52 but I can't look you in the eye and say we're on course to a fourth victory.
01:58 Nigel Farage has spiced things up a bit.
02:02 The general consensus is that's really bad news for you guys.
02:07 Well, I've said before that I think that Nigel Farage should come into the Tory party.
02:12 You still think that?
02:13 I still think that. I think that Conservatives and reform agree on the vast bulk of policy,
02:22 and that we want to achieve the same things.
02:24 We want a low-tax, efficient economy.
02:28 We want a smaller state. We want immigration to be controlled.
02:32 We want the green ideology to calm down.
02:34 We want a national health service that works.
02:37 We want so many things in common that it makes much more sense for us to work together.
02:42 Now, if that isn't going to happen, we know perfectly well that split wings of the British body politic
02:48 are unhelpful for that wing of the British body politic.
02:52 Do you still think there's a chance for the Prime Minister to reach out to Nigel Farage?
02:58 Well, I would certainly encourage him to do so.
03:00 Nigel is a very big political figure and who represents a swathe of public opinion
03:07 and is a very strong advocate for that swathe of public opinion.
03:11 Keep looking at your website. It seems a slightly lighter blue than Tory blue.
03:15 It's almost a reform blue.
03:17 It's just very old. I think I wouldn't read anything into that.
03:21 If Nigel and his crew don't come over to you, could you go over to them?
03:24 No, I'm a member of the Conservative Party. I have been.
03:28 I think the two-party system in this country works.
03:32 Look at the people who went off to the SDP and what that did.
03:35 That actually, ultimately, the Labour Party reformed, came back into government.
03:40 It is the Conservative Party that represents the broad swathe of opinion on the right of British politics
03:46 and I think will continue to do so.
03:48 Dan Norris suggested you have created this character, this persona, the Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg character
03:59 and it's somewhat, he used the word 'affected'. What do you think?
04:03 People have asked me this question before.
04:06 Who would create the character that I have created? It would be a very eccentric thing to do.
04:12 Well, you are quite eccentric.
04:14 Well, I am what I am. I don't think anyone would take PR advice to create me.
04:20 You are, for many, the Tory's Tory.
04:24 Are you slightly concerned you could be the Michael Petillo of this election?
04:30 You should always recognise in any election until the votes are actually cast,
04:36 any of the candidates standing could actually win.
04:39 You could be that one seat that the Greens win.
04:42 They could have won one round here somewhere.
04:45 They are working very hard and the Green candidate is actually working hard in North East Somerset and Hanham.
04:50 I bumped into him earlier on today.
04:53 If the current polls are right, people will be spoiled for choice for Portillo amendments
04:59 we've got to work on the basis that they're not right, haven't we?