Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has admitted he is “very strongly” considering standing at the next general election after losing his seat in July.
The former Tory minister, who lost the constituency of North East Somerset to Labour by more than 5,000 votes at the July 4 ballot, told a fringe audience his party “deserved” to lose the election.
Sir Jacob was appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Sunday as part of The Political Party with Matt Forde show.
I am not absolutely certain but I love politics and I love being in the Parliament. I am thinking very strongly about standing again
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
The outspoken politician said he was not “absolutely certain” he would seek election in 2029, but told the McEwan Hall audience that his recent election loss was not a “shock”.
He said: “I am not absolutely certain but I love politics and I love being in the Parliament.
“So I am thinking very strongly about standing again.”
Sir Jacob said he knew his party could not “overcome a 20% deficit in the opinion polls”, adding: “I wrote to my children at boarding school before the election to say ‘look I will probably lose’. I tried my best to warn them that I was going to lose my seat.
I think the attacks on (former prime minister Liz Truss) have become deeply unpleasant and go beyond the normal political criticism and have become very personal. She is not a bad person
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
“We governed badly, we hadn’t done what we told people we would do. We put up taxes when we said that we wouldn’t, we hadn’t dealt with migration and we hadn’t governed well.
“I can’t pretend we didn’t deserve it.”
But the former Tory MP praised previous prime minister Rishi Sunak, adding he was “very impressed” that he had handled the election result with “great dignity”.
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And speaking about the government of former Tory prime minister Liz Truss – of which he was business and energy secretary – he said: “I think the attacks on her have become deeply unpleasant and go beyond the normal political criticism and have become very personal. She is not a bad person.”
I think to send a piece of hate mail to a 16-year-old because you don’t like his father is an awful thing to do and just fundamentally nasty
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
Sir Jacob also told the audience of the impact being a politician had on his family, adding that his eldest son, aged 16, received hate mail following the election.
“I think to send a piece of hate mail to a 16-year-old because you don’t like his father is an awful thing to do and just fundamentally nasty,” he said.
“It is not my son’s fault that I have the political views that I do and it is cowardly, because if you don’t agree with me then you should get in touch with me – put your name on the bottom of it – but to write to a 16-year-old is just loathsome.”
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