Jacob Rees-Mogg, pictured today at the Tory Party conference, aid he is not sure Theresa May will lead the Tories into the next election
Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg tonight said he is not sure Theresa May will lead the Tory Party into the next election – as he left the door open to run for leader in the future.
The backbencher – who is tipped as a possible candidate – pointed out that the PM’s popularity nosedived in a way no one foresaw.
He hit out at the Tory Party’s election campaign and manifesto, which he said appeared to be mainly about ‘being horrible to older people’.
And he urged the party to make the positive case for free market values – warning that if it does not the country could end up with a ‘catastrophic’ Jeremy Corbyn government.
His comments came as Tory Party activists called for the North East Somerset MP to be elevated to the Cabinet.
One activist described the erudite backbench as the ‘missing link’ in British politics as she called for him to be given the top job in the Brexit negotiations.
Speculation swirls over the future of Mrs May’s leadership, with this week’s conference seen as a a crucial test of her premiership amid speculation Boris Johnson could challenge her.
Speaking at a Conservative Home fringe event at the Tory Party conference, Mr Rees-Mogg hesitated when asked if Mrs May will lead the party to the next election.
He said: ‘Erm… I think time will tell.
‘Do I want her to? Yes she has my full support, without a question.
‘But six months ago everyone thought Theresa May was the most powerful politician in modern British political history and Jeremy Corbyn was the biggest joke in modern British political history and that they were both going in opposite directions.
‘And now Jeremy Corbyn is stronger as Theresa May is less so.
‘Politics changes and it changes remarkably quickly.’
He said that if Mrs May gets a good Brexit deal then her star could soar again, but added: ‘Any of us who try to make political forecasts in the last few years have been so routinely wrong that to make a forecast is a mugs game.
‘But do it think it’s possible? Yes. Is it what at the moment I wish would happen? Yes.’
Mr Rees-Mogg has seen a surge in popularity over the summer as ‘moggmentum’ swept through parts of the British electorate.
Theresa May, pictured today at the Tory Party conference with her husband Philip, is facing fresh questions about her leadership of the paryt
Asked if he would like the PM’s job the backbencher did not rule it out if duty called.
He said: ‘I think like is the wrong word for the Prime Ministership.
I think the Prime Ministership is a job – and you can see this with Mrs May particularly – is a ob done out of duty not I would like to do it.
‘And Mrs May is doing her duty and I fully support her carrying on doing that. I think like rather trivialises the Prime Ministership.’
He added: ‘I don’t aspire to it, no.’
And he also tore into the Tory Party’s election campaign, joking ‘how long have you got’ when asked what went wron.
He said: ‘I think everybody accepts that the election was not our finest hour and mistakes were made in terms of the presentation of the campaign and the subjects we decided to focus on.
‘I think in future elections we must do better. I think we must lay out what conservative principles really are and from that the policies grow. we did it the other way round.’
Boris Johnson, pictured this morning on his way to the Tory Party conference, has sparked fresh questions about Theresa May’s leadership by mounting another explosive Brexit intervention shortly before she gives her conference speech
Mr Rees-Mogg also warned that Britain must not still be ruled by EU judges after Brexit – warning that continuing to be under the control of the European Court of Justice would mean the UK is still in the EU.
Tory activists had flocked to the fringe event, forming a large queue which snakes around the conference centre.
And party member Jenifer Johnson, from Wirral West, described him as the ‘missing link’ in British politics.
She told the Mail Online he should be promoted to the Cabinet.
She said: ‘I look at the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and I think someone like Jacob Rees-Mogg against him.’