ON Tuesday morning, Nick Robinson was at it. Introducing the Tory MP for North East Somerset, he described him as “the unlikely three-piece suited pin-up and – yes – Tory leadership candidate, Jacob Rees-Mogg”. Thus did the Today programme and the former political editor of the BBC do their bit to mainstream the idea that Mr Rees-Mogg could one day be Prime Minister.
Here we go again. There was a time when Boris Johnson was just that buffoon off Have I Got News For You. Ian Hislop and Paul Merton ribbed him fondly, imagining, probably, that he would ornament the Tory backbenches for evermore without causing any real harm.
In fact, it was the beginning of Mr Johnson’s rise. A cartoonish media persona who plays well on social media is now apparently the best qualification an MP can have when it comes to positioning for the top job.
Mr Rees-Mogg appears to understand that very well indeed. He sounds like Noel Coward, dresses like Edward VIII, owns a brace of vintage Bentleys and defuses misgivings about his Eton and Oxford-educated elitism with good manners and undeniable wit.
He is in turn treated as a special case, a curio, as if he were a time traveller from the days of Empire who has had the misfortune to be deposited in 2017 and is jolly well making the best of it, plucky fellow.
All of that focus on image is very helpful when you have the sort of views to make a Ukip conference delirious. What started as a bit of a joke – “Jacob for president!” – has become assumed fact. An untested backbencher, he is mentioned in the serious and popular press as a potential Tory leader, bolstered by an online campaign, Moggmentum.
He has turned himself into an Instagram phenomenon, posting family photos with the aristocrat wife and six children, including latest arrival Sixtus Dominic Boniface Christopher (how could one know it would create such a stir?).
Mr Rees-Mogg has waved away leadership talk, insisting it is unwise “to have ambitions above one’s station” – how self-deprecating – but did not correct Robinson for his introduction on the Today programme.
Part of his appeal is his supposed straight talking. So, does he really know his place? We’ll see.
The trouble with all of this is that, inside that bespoke double-breasted suit, beats an illiberal heart. Do his casual fans know what he stands for?
Apart from being the hardest of hardline Brexiters, he wants to slash overseas aid; opposes same-sex marriage; supports the expansion of coal and gas while expressing doubts about the impact of climate change; dreams of cutting environmental and safety regulations “a very long way” after Brexit; defends zero-hours contracts; and supports hawkish welfare policies.
Before the 2015 General Election, he praised the “talents and charisma” of Nigel Farage and advocated a Tory-Ukip pact.
A financier by profession, he has lived his life in an atmosphere that is not so much rarified as in orbit. His privileged upbringing is not his fault, of course, but his enthusiastic espousal of deeply traditional values suggests he has not looked far beyond it.
He is often compared to Jeremy Corbyn – both are supposedly popular with the young for being “authentic” – but there is precious little evidence that Mr Rees-Mogg shares Mr Corbyn’s empathy with the legions of have-nots.
He may have piqued the interest of jaded editors but idly speculating that this reactionary might one day be Tory leader is a risky game.
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