A photo of could-be-next-Tory-leader Jacob Rees-Mogg at the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Manchester captured the backbench MP at a rather embarrassing angle. Remind you of anyone?
The snap was taken during the panel discussion on Monday, as the Tory MP sat next to a portrait of Margaret Thatcher as he faced down livid activists wielding placards and shouting “Tories out.”
In a sign of Rees-Mogg’s growing notoriety, one protester directly targeted the backbencher, ranked among the favourites to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, over his “despicable” stance on abortion and austerity, which he said are “harming people.”
“Shame on you Jacob Rees-Mogg! Tories out!” the activist shouted out.
The MP, however, seemed open to debate, as he asked the protester what exactly he disagreed with.
The protester said: “Abortion, women’s rights, austerity… Everything. You’re a despicable person.”
To which Rees-Mogg replied: “Well, we may disagree on things, but just because you disagree with somebody, that doesn’t make them a bad person.
“The two are separate.”
But the protester hit back saying: “Mate, the things you’re saying are harming people’s lives.
“People are dying because of the things you are advocating.”
The Old Etonian insisted the government’s policies are making “people’s lives better.”
The activist pointed out the staggering rise in the number of food banks, and highlighted that although there may be more people in work, they are in “precarious” employment.
The confrontation ended with the man being led away by security, and Rees-Mogg seeing him off with: “Well, very nice to have met you.”
A survey of Tory party members last month revealed the Old Etonian is the most favoured to succeed May as PM.