Sir Jacob William Rees-Mogg is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament for North East Somerset since 2010. Now a backbencher, he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from 2019 to 2022, Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency from February to September 2022 and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, Rees-Mogg previously chaired the eurosceptic European Research Group from 2018 to 2019 and has been associated with socially conservative views.
Rees-Mogg was born in Hammersmith, London. He was educated at Westminster Under School, Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford, where he read history and was president of Oxford University Conservative Association. He went on to work in the City of London and in Hong Kong for Lloyd George Management until 2007, when he co-founded the hedge fund management business Somerset Capital Management LLP. He amassed a significant fortune: it was estimated at between £55 million and £150 million in 2016, including his wife's expected inheritance. Rees-Mogg unsuccessfully contested the 1997 and 2001 general elections before being elected as the MP for North East Somerset in 2010. He was reelected in 2015 and 2017, with an increased share of the vote each time, as well as in 2019, with a smaller share of the vote. Within the Conservative Party, he joined the traditionalist and socially conservative Cornerstone Group.
During the premiership of David Cameron, Rees-Mogg was one of the Conservative Party's most rebellious MPs, opposing the Whip's office on a number of issues. He became known for filibustering. A Eurosceptic, he proposed an electoral pact between the Conservatives and the UK Independence Party and campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum. A member of the European Research Group , Rees-Mogg was elected its chairman in 2018. He attracted support for his opposition to the Chequers Agreement and Prime Minister Theresa May's proposed Brexit withdrawal agreement. He was promoted as a potential successor to May as Leader of the Conservative Party; he instead endorsed Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership contest. Following Johnson's election as Conservative Leader and appointment as Prime Minister he appointed Rees-Mogg Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. In February 2022, Rees-Mogg was moved by Johnson to the role of Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency. After Johnson resigned in July 2022, Rees-Mogg supported Liz Truss's bid to become Conservative leader. Following Truss's appointment as Prime Minister, she appointed Rees-Mogg as Business Secretary. He resigned as Business Secretary shortly after Truss left office on 25 October 2022.
Rees-Mogg has been described as a conviction politician with anachronistic attitudes. Critics view him as a reactionary figure; his traditionalist attitudes have been characterised as obscuring controversial political views, some of which have made him the target of organised protests. His anachronistic style has led to Mogg being dubbed the "Honourable Member for the 18th century".
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24. May 1969
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