Jacob Rees-Mogg is mulling a shock entry in the Conservative leadership race as a “continuity Boris” candidate, The Telegraph can disclose.
The Cabinet Office minister has contacted several Conservative MPs this morning to ask them if they thought he should enter the ever-widening field of MPs who want to succeed Boris Johnson.
One MP told Monday’s Chopper’s Politics newsletter that Mr Rees-Mogg is canvassing whether to stand as the “pro-Boris candidate”.
The MP said: “He would be brilliant and probably the only person all the pro-Boris [MPs] could support.”
A second Tory MP said Mr Rees-Mogg had made contact and was considering standing to attract Eurosceptics and provide a rallying point for the Conservative Right.
Mr Rees-Mogg declined to comment when approached by The Telegraph on Monday morning.