Ravensworth is a village and civil parish in the Holmedale valley, within the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England.  It is approximately  north-west of Richmond and  from Darlington. The parish has a population of 255, according to the 2011 census.

Ravensworth was historically situated in the North Riding of Yorkshire, but has been a part of North Yorkshire since 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act of 1972. The village has ancient origins, dating back to the time of Viking settlements. In it are the remains of the 14th century, Grade-1-listed Ravensworth Castle, the ancestral home of the FitzHugh family. After the FitzHugh line came to an end, the castle was abandoned. Beginning in the mid-16th century, it began to be dismantled, but the gatehouse remains almost wholly intact. There are a number of listed buildings situated around the village green, mostly dating from the eighteenth century. Many of them were constructed using raw materials from the castle.

Today, Ravensworth is primarily a commuter village, and the historically important agricultural sector now employs only a small number of people. Historically, stone mining was important to the local economy. Although it died out in the twentieth century, a sandstone quarry was recently opened just outside the village.

Today, the village has a primary school, a public house and a large village green. The Methodist chapel closed in 2019.

Ravensworth is most frequently mentioned in the media as the home of the former international cricketer Ian Botham. The village is also known regionally for the Ravensworth Nurseries horticultural business.

History

Etymology
The name of the village derives from the given name of Hrafn, the founder of the settlement. Originally called Ravenswath, "wath" was the Old Norse word meaning "ford" and would suggest that the Holme Beck that passes through the village was forded in Viking times. Hrafn was a Norse word meaning "raven", so the village was literally the ford of Raven. Its name and spelling has varied over the years: in the 11th century it was Raveneswet, Rasueswaht in the 12th century, Raveneswade in 1201, Ravenswath from the 13th to 16th centuries, and afterwards beginning to settle on Ravensworth.

Early settlement

The earliest archaeological find in the Ravensworth area is a coin from the early Roman period. There has also been a number of finds from the Anglo Saxon era.

The Lord of the Manor in 1066 was Thorfin, who also held the manor of Didderston. The Lord of the Manor owned the surrounding demesnes, and the villagers were tenants of his land. The village is documented in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having 21 households, which was then quite large for a settlement. There was also a church and a priest. By this time, Alan Rufus had allocated the lands to his relative Bodin of Middleham. Bodin later relinquished his lands in order to become a monk, and the estate was passed to his brother, Bardolph, from whom the FitzHugh line is descended. Bardolph's son, Akarius Fitz Bardolph, donated lands for a monastery which were later to become Jervaulx Abbey.

A fortress was built during the reign of Henry II as the ancestral home of the Fitzhugh family, who purchased the land from the nuns of Marrick Priory. The fortress would have offered protection to the local population during Scottish raids from north of the border. King John was entertained there in 1201. The Fitzhughs were appointed barons on 15 May 1321. Ralph de Greystoke, 3rd Baron Greystoke, was born in the castle, home of his uncle Henry, Lord Fitzhugh, on 18 October 1353. Henry FitzHugh, 3rd Baron FitzHugh was appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household by Henry V. Henry Fitzhugh built the now Grade I listed Ravensworth Castle in 1391 on the site of a previous fortress from the 11th century, and also received licence to enclose 200 acres of land around the castle to make a park. Robert FitzHugh became Bishop of London in 1431. After the end of the Fitzhugh male line in 1513, ownership of the castle and estate was passed through the female line to Sir Thomas Parr. Following his death, it passed to his son, a minor, William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton by which time it was ruined, largely as a result of being quarried for local building materials. It passed to the Crown Estate in 1571 after Parr died without issue. The castle began to be pulled down in the middle of the 16th century, shortly after the visitation by the antiquarian John Leland, however almost the entirety of the gatehouse remains intact. In 1629 the estate was conferred from the Crown to Edward Ditchfield. In 1633 it was sold to the Robinson family, who later sold it to Sir Thomas Wharton in 1676. It then passed to Wharton's son Hon Philip Wharton, before passing through his in-laws to Robert Byerley of Goldsborough Hall. By 1779 the estate belonged to the Legard Baronets.

Ancient parish
Ravensworth was historically the largest settlement in the ancient parish of Kirkby Ravensworth.  The ancient parish encompassed an area of 15,000 acres, including Ravensworth itself, as well as the townships of Dalton, Gayles, Kirby Hill (or Kirby-on-the-Hill), New Forest, Newsham and Whashton. All of these places became separate civil parishes in 1866.

The parish church since 1397 has been the Church of St Peter & St Felix in Kirby Hill, situated about one mile (1.6 km) from Ravensworth; it is believed to have been built on the site of a much earlier Saxon church. The cleric and historian John Dakyn was rector of the parish from 1554 until his death four years later. In 1556 he established the Kirby Ravensworth Free Grammar School (free from external control rather than free at the point of use) and an almshouse, and his benefaction continues to fund charitable causes for the parishioners.

Village history

The anchoress Margaret Kirkby was born in the village, possibly in 1322.

John Leland, and many others since, have described Ravensworth as a "pretty" village. There were a number of skirmishes in the area during the Civil War, and the region was a Royalist stronghold. As with many English villages, much of the housing stock consists of Grade II listed buildings, dating from the mid to late 17th century onwards. The poet Cuthbert Shaw was born in the village in 1738–9. The astronomer William Lax was born in the village in 1761, producing A Method of finding the latitude by means of two altitudes of the sun there in 1799. There were Inclosure Acts passed for the common fields in 1772–3 and 1776–7. In 1773, Samuel Hieronymus Grimm made several sketches around the village. The publisher Effingham Wilson was born in the village in 1785. In 1793, a gold penny dating from around 1257 during the reign of Henry III, was found in a field in Ravensworth; at the time it was one of only two known to exist, and as of 2011 only eight are known to exist.

Nineteenth century
Walter Scott referenced the village in "Rokeby" (1813), an epic poem set in the area. The artist J. M. W. Turner made several sketches of the castle on 13 July 1816. The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1822. From 1834, the parish was placed within the Poor Law Union of Richmond. A national school was built in 1841. The blacksmith's shop has been situated at the same site since 1841. In 1843 the parish was described as being almost entirely agricultural. The Bay Horse Inn public house dates as far back as at least 1857 (it claims a date of 1725), and its stone door case is 17th century or earlier, almost certainly built using material from the castle. In 1859 "good freestone" was being quarried in the village, although a short-lived copper mine had been discontinued; the father of Christopher Cradock was lord of the manor, and the village was described as "exceedingly neat". According to the 1881 and 1891 Censuses, agriculture and mining were the main industries. In the late nineteenth century, Speight noted the great longevity of many of the parishioners, owing to the space and pure air.

Twentieth century
The parish lost 23 men in the First World War and 5 in the Second World War. The roll of honour is held in the parish church. John Scott Bainbridge is additionally remembered in the First World War memorial at Barnard Castle School (then the North Eastern County School).

The Kirby Hill grammar school closed in 1957, having operated for almost 400 years. The school educated the Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Hutton and the antiquarian James Raine as well as the aforementioned Shaw and Lax. In 1967 the new primary school building was opened. In 1974, the village became a component of North Yorkshire, having previously been situated in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The village's 15th century cruck house was dismantled in the late 1970s and reconstructed at the Richmondshire Museum. The land on which it stood was used to build the Mill Close housing estate in 1977. The former school premises became a village hall in 1987. The Post Office closed down in the mid-1990s.

The former England cricketer Ian Botham has lived in the village since 1990, and in 2020 became Lord Botham of Ravensworth. His 17th century farmhouse situated on a 30-acre estate is his "most treasured possession" and Botham has commented that, "we like our Yorkshire home too much ever to leave it". Local and national media refer to him ironically as "The Squire of Ravensworth". He regularly hosts the England cricket team at his home. His son Liam Botham has a house in the farmhouse grounds.

Governance
Ravensworth is now in the local government district of Richmondshire, within the county of North Yorkshire. Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who represents the Richmond (Yorks) UK Parliamentary constituency, is the MP. In the Anglican church it is within the deanery of Richmond, the archdeaconry of Richmond and the diocese of Ripon and Leeds.

Geography

The village is situated  from London. It is  from the county town of Northallerton. The closest settlements are Kirby Hill, Dalton and Gayles. Other local villages are Newsham, East Layton, West Layton, Gilling West and Hartforth.

Ravensworth is 119 metres above sea level. The village is situated on a slight knoll to the south of the Holme Beck (sometimes known in the past as Ravensworth Beck or Gilling Beck), a minor tributary of the River Swale in an area known as the Holme valley or Holmedale. The valley was created by the Teesdale glacier during the last ice age. According to The Independent the village is "good walking country...surrounded by open countryside overlooked by hills and moorland." Holme Beck attracts kingfishers, dippers and grey herons. The marshland around the castle is home to moorhens, coots, Eurasian oystercatchers, Eurasian curlews and wintering duck such as teal and goldeneye. The ruins attract mallards, snipe and tawny owls.

The soil is loam and the subsoil is Yoredale Series. Most of the land around the village is arable farmland, although livestock such as horses are also reared, and sheep graze on the more rugged sides of the valley. Crops grown include wheat, barley and oil seed rape. The houses are generally built of sandstone and have distinctive "Yorkshire" roofs, a mix of soft red pantiles and slate. The village is described as "picturesque". The old Roman road of Dere Street formerly skirted the north-eastern outskirts of the parish and provides much of the northern boundary of the parish.

Usually the Pennines protect the North-East from rainfall, which tends to come from the west. Weather data is collected on a minute by minute basis by a Met Office weather station at Ravensworth Nurseries. On 2 December 2010, a temperature of -20.0 degrees Celsius was reported for Ravensworth by the Met Office; this was the first time -20.0 had been recorded in England since January 1987. In September 2012, Ravensworth made national news when MeteoGroup reported that the village had received the largest amount of rainfall in the country, 130.8 mm, (5.16 inches) between 1 am on the 23rd and 8 am on the 25th, which was thrice the average total for the month.

Demography
Approximately 20 per cent of the villagers are of pensioner age, 20 per cent are under 18 and the remaining 60 per cent are of working age. The majority of villagers are commuters, with only around 20 people employed within the village itself, mostly in agriculture. Many people commute to the local market towns of Richmond, Barnard Castle, Northallerton and Darlington, but some travel further afield to the larger conurbations of Tyneside, Teesside and Leeds. Property prices in the ward are higher than the average for England. There were no recorded crimes in the village in 2009–2010; this is representative of almost every year. The average weekly household income for the ward is £600, higher than the Yorkshire and the Humber average. There are 10 people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. The population is at the same level as it was in 1850; although the housing stock has expanded, the average number of residents per house has decreased.

Economy
Ravensworth Nurseries (trading as "Bradbrook & Hannah") was one of Yorkshire's most successful horticultural businesses. Founded in 1966, it supplied garden centres and retailers across the United Kingdom as well as its own on-site sales. The world's largest hanging basket was established onsite in 1996. The basket weighed five tons, was 23 feet across and 9 feet high and contained 1,000 plants of 100 different varieties. By 2006, the business had a £1.8 million annual turnover, six acres of glasshouses and employed around 35 people.. Ravensworth Nurseries closed in 2023.

Amenities
Ravensworth contains a Church of England primary school which had 68 pupils in 2010, a village hall, a Methodist chapel (which closed in 2019) and a public house, described as "cosy". The village has a public house called The Bay Horse Inn. A Church of England church situated at Kirby Hill, a large garden centre, a local farm shop, a 5-acre caravan park and a further three public houses are all within an approximately one mile radius, although only The Bay Horse Inn is situated in the village proper. The "broad [and] pleasant" village green is substantial, at 17 acres, and most of the one hundred or so dwellings in the village are situated around it. The green hosts the stone base of a 15th-century cross or obelisk. There was previously village quoits club that operated during the summer, however this is currently in abeyance. The area falls within the television reception area of ITV Tyne Tees. Newspaper coverage is provided by the Darlington-based Northern Echo, which has a North Yorkshire edition, and The Teesdale Mercury based in Barnard Castle. Water is supplied by Yorkshire Water. The water is the area is classified as hard, owing to the large amount of limestone in the area, and derives from a spring/borehole source. The village is within the boundaries of the annual fox hunting event, the Zetland Hunt.

Transport
Ravensworth is situated near to the A66 and is 5 miles from the Scotch Corner junction on the A1(M) motorway. Its nearest railway station is Darlington railway station,  away. Bus services which operate throughout the day connect the village to the nearby towns of Richmond and Barnard Castle. The village is situated close to the Yorkshire Dales national park, and is also only one hour from the North York Moors and the Lake District national parks. Newcastle and York are one hour's drive away, and Leeds is just over one hour away. A bus service runs between Barnard Castle and Richmond (and vice versa) and runs several times a day on weekdays; it is operated by Hodgson's Buses of Barnard Castle.

References

External links

 Ravensworth village website
 Ravensworth families recorded in the 1861 and 1891 censuses
 The Northern Echo's profile of the village

Villages in North Yorkshire
Civil parishes in North Yorkshire
Richmondshire

Ravensworth


Charlot Byj (pronounced "bye"; September 28, 1920 – August 7, 1983) was an artist known for her greeting card designs, posters and advertising artwork in the mid-1940s. She is most famous for the transformation of her artwork into a line of figurines created by Goebel.

Living in New York City after art school, Charlot ducked into the doorway of a greeting card store during a rainstorm.  She admired the greeting card line, noted the name of the publisher, and called the company for an interview.  She was hired by the publisher, and began creating illustrations for greeting cards, featuring the impish, redheaded children that became her trademark, namely, Shabby O'Hair, his sister Raggy Muffin, and their plump mother, M'Lady O'Hair.

Franz Goebel, of the W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik company, took a liking to her artwork and invited her to his German production facility.  Working with master sculptor Arthur Moeller, they designed the first figurine, entitled "Strike", in 1957.

Between 1957 and 1988, when the series was discontinued, more than 100 different figurines were created. The line included both redhead and blonde children. The redhead figurines, as they are known, are mischievous characters, whereas the blondes tend to portray more serene characteristics.

Charlot became ill in 1980 and began cutting back on her designing. On August 7, 1983, Charlot died in New York City.

References

American women illustrators
American illustrators
1983 deaths
1920 births
20th-century American women artists
20th-century American artists

Charlot Byj


Sir Jacob William Rees-Mogg PC, MP (born 24 May 1969) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) 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 (ERG) 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 (UKIP) and campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum. A member of the European Research Group (ERG), 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".

Life and career

Early life and education
Rees-Mogg was born in Hammersmith, London, on 24 May 1969, the younger son of William Rees-Mogg (1928–2012), editor of The Times newspaper, created a life peer in 1988, and his wife Gillian Shakespeare Morris, formerly his secretary, daughter of Thomas Richard Morris, a lorry driver, car salesman, local government politician, and Conservative mayor of St Pancras in London. He is a descendent of the Rees-Mogg family of Cholwell, Cameley. He is one of five children, having three elder siblings, Emma Beatrice Rees-Mogg (born 1962), Charlotte Louise Rees-Mogg (born 1964) and Thomas Fletcher Rees-Mogg (born 1966), and one younger sister, Annunziata Mary Rees-Mogg (born 1979).

In 1964 the family purchased Ston Easton Park, a country house near the village of Ston Easton in Somerset, where Rees-Mogg grew up attending weekly mass and occasionally Sunday school at the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton. Here he started catechism in 1975 under his governess and attended mass in the ordinary form. A few years later, in 1978, the family moved to the nearby village of Hinton Blewett where they purchased The Old Rectory, a Grade II listed former rectory. Living in Somerset, he regularly travelled to his family's second home in Smith Square, London, where he attended prep school at the private Westminster Under School.

Growing up, Rees-Mogg was primarily raised by the family's nanny Veronica Crook, whom he describes as a formative figure. Crook came to work for the family in 1965 to look after Rees-Mogg's older siblings, and later looked after Rees-Mogg's own children; in 2021 she had worked for the family for 56 years.

At age nine he made his first Last Will and testament, and at thirteen he opened a Coutts bank account. When Rees-Mogg was ten, he was left £50 by a distant cousin, and his father, on his behalf, invested in shares in the now-defunct General Electric Company (GEC). Rees-Mogg said this event was the beginning of his interest in stock markets. Having learned how to read company reports and balance sheets, he later attended a shareholders' meeting at GEC, where he voted against a motion because dividends were too low. He subsequently invested in London-based conglomerate Lonrho, eventually owning 340 shares, and reportedly caused the company's chairman Lord Duncan-Sandys "discomfort" by quizzing him at an annual general meeting on the low dividends offered to shareholders. In 1981, at a shareholders' meeting of GEC, in which he owned 175 shares at the time, he told the chairman Lord Nelson that the dividend on offer was "pathetic", sparking amusement among board members and the media.

After prep school, Rees-Mogg entered Eton College, where he was described in a school report as a "particularly dogmatic" Thatcherite. Upon leaving Eton, he had his portrait painted by Paul Brason RP for the Eton College Collections, which was later put on display during the Faces of 1993 Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition.

Rees-Mogg read history at Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated with an upper second-class honours degree in 1991. Almost immediately after arriving in 1988, he was nominated by Cherwell for the title of "Pushy Fresher", printing a photograph of open-mouthed Rees-Mogg in a suit with the caption "What more need we say?". While at Oxford, he became president of the Oxford University Conservative Association with what Cherwell described as a "campaign for world domination and social adequacy". Rees-Mogg was a member and frequent debater at the Oxford Union and elected Librarian, but Damian Hinds defeated him for president of the Union. Reflecting on his time at university, Rees-Mogg regretted not having studied Classics.

Career
After graduating from the University of Oxford in 1991, Rees-Mogg worked for J Rothschild Investment Management under Nils Taube before moving to Hong Kong in 1993 to join Lloyd George Management. During his tenure in Hong Kong, he became a close friend of Governor Chris Patten and was a regular at Government House. Three years later, he returned to London and was put in charge of some of the firm's emerging markets funds. By 2003, he was managing a newly established Lloyd George Emerging Markets Fund. In 2007, Rees-Mogg left the company with a number of colleagues to set up their own fund management firm, Somerset Capital Management, with the aid of hedge fund manager Crispin Odey. Following Rees-Mogg's election as the Member of Parliament for North East Somerset, he stepped down as chief executive of the company; however, he continues to receive income in his capacity as a partner.

Rees-Mogg's wealth has been estimated to be in excess of £100 million when combined with his wife's expected inheritance, which has left him open to the criticism that he cannot understand the lives and concerns of many ordinary people.

In 2018, Somerset Capital opened an investment fund in Dublin in order to be legally able to continue to have European retail investors after Brexit. The new business prospectus listed Brexit as one of the risks, as it could cause "considerable uncertainty". Rees-Mogg, who remains a partner of the business but does not manage the funds nor make investment decisions, stated: "The decision to launch the fund was nothing whatsoever to do with Brexit."

When interviewed by Channel 4 in March 2019, Rees-Mogg declined to answer suggestions that their calculations showed that he could have earned £7 million in the period since the referendum.

In July 2019, Rees-Mogg resigned from his part-time role at Somerset Capital Management following his appointment as Leader of the House of Commons.

Parliamentary candidate and other roles
Rees-Mogg first entered politics at the 1997 general election at which, aged 27, he was selected as the Conservative Party candidate for Central Fife, a traditional Labour seat in Scotland. With an upper class background on his father's side set against a predominantly working-class electorate, and having been described as being "so posh, it's as if he has been transported in time from a previous century", he caused some bewilderment among locals by canvassing the area with his family's nanny and touring the constituency in a Bentley, a claim that he later described as "scurrilous", stating it had been a Mercedes. With a name recognition of less than 2%, Rees-Mogg managed to gain the third-highest number of votes on election night, earning 9% of all votes cast, a figure much lower than that of previous Conservative Party candidates for the area. However, no new Conservative MPs were elected in Scotland that year; the Conservative Party suffered its worst electoral defeat since 1906, and lost all its seats in Scotland.

In 1999, when it was being rumoured that his "anachronistically posh" accent was working against his chances of being selected for a safe Conservative seat, Rees-Mogg was defended by letter writers to The Daily Telegraph, one of whom claimed that "an overt form of intimidation exists, directed against anyone who dares to eschew the current, Americanised, mode of behaviour, speech and dress". Rees-Mogg himself stated (in The Sunday Times, 23 May 1999) that "it is rather pathetic to fuss about accents too much", though he then went on to say that "John Prescott's accent certainly stereotypes him as an oaf", a comment which he later said he regretted and for which he apologised. He later said: "I gradually realised that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favour dropped as soon as I opened my mouth."

Rees-Mogg was selected as the Conservative candidate for The Wrekin in Shropshire for the 2001 general election, but lost to the sitting Labour MP Peter Bradley who achieved a 0.95% swing to Labour against the national trend of a 3.5% swing to the Conservatives. From 2005 to 2008, he was the elected Chairman of the Cities of London and Westminster Conservative Association.

In 2006, Rees-Mogg criticised efforts by then-Leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron to increase the representation of ethnic minorities on the party candidate list, arguing that fulfilling quotas can often "make it harder for the intellectually able" and that "Ninety-five per cent of this country is White. The list can't be totally different from the country at large."

In March 2009, Rees-Mogg was forced to apologise to Trevor Kavanagh, the then political editor of The Sun, after it was shown that a newsletter signed by Rees-Mogg had plagiarised sections of a Kavanagh article that had appeared in the newspaper over a month earlier.

In December 2009, a pamphlet which purported to show him talking to a local constituent and calling on the government to "show more honesty" was criticised after it emerged that the "constituent" was a London-based employee of his investment firm.

He was one of the directors of the Catholic Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in London who were ordered to resign by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor in February 2008 after protracted arguments over the adoption of a tighter ethical code banning non-Catholic practices such as abortions and gender reassignment surgery at the hospital.

Parliament
Rees-Mogg was described by Camilla Long in a profile in The Sunday Times as "David Cameron's worst nightmare" during the 2010 general election campaign. At that election, Rees-Mogg became the new Member of Parliament for the new North East Somerset constituency, with a majority of 4,914 votes. His sister, journalist Annunziata Rees-Mogg, stood simultaneously in neighbouring Somerton and Frome, but failed by 1,817 votes to win her seat. In The Guardian, Ian Jack had claimed that the selection of two such highly privileged candidates had damaged the Conservative Party's message of social inclusion, and appeared to suggest that privileged candidates should be excluded.

Cameron government (2010–2016)
In 2010 the ConservativeHome blog rated Rees-Mogg as one of the Conservatives' most rebellious MPs. He later voted against the government whip on the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill, the October 2011 European Union Referendum Motion and the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012.

In the House of Commons, Rees-Mogg gained a reputation for his humorous speeches and ability to filibuster. He helped filibuster the Daylight Saving Bill 2010–12 and the Sustainable Livestock Bill 2010–12, thus preventing their passage through Parliament. In his long speech on the Sustainable Livestock Bill, he recited poetry; spoke of the superior quality of Somerset eggs, and mentioned the Empress of Blandings, a fictional pig who won silver at the Shropshire County Show three years in a row, before moving on to talk about the sewerage system and the Battle of Agincourt. He also jokingly attempted to amend the Daylight Saving Bill to give the county of Somerset its own time zone, fifteen minutes behind London.

In a December 2011 debate on London Local Authorities Bill, he said that council officials with the power to issue on-the-spot fines should be made to wear bowler hats. In February 2012, he used the word "floccinaucinihilipilification"—meaning "the habit of considering as worthless"—during a parliamentary debate; it was noted as the longest word then uttered on the floor of the House of Commons.

In May 2013, he addressed the annual dinner held by the Traditional Britain Group, a far-right group that calls for non-white Britons to be deported. Rees-Mogg had been informed as to the nature of the group by anti-fascist group Searchlight prior to his attendance. After the dinner, he informed the press that although he had been informed of the group's views, he had "never been a member or supporter" of them.

In January 2014, he dismissed the sum of £250,000 spent on MPs' portraits as trivial by saying "I'm all for saving money, saving money right, left and centre, but this is chicken feed". In December 2014, Rees-Mogg was reported to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority for speaking in debates on tobacco, mining, and oil and gas without first verbally declaring he was a founding partner and director of Somerset Capital, which manages multimillion-pound investments in these sectors. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Hudson, decided that no wrongdoing had been committed and thus no investigation would take place.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Rees-Mogg's extra-parliamentary work took up 476 hours, or 9 hours per week, in 2014.

May government (2016–2019)
After Cameron resigned in the wake of the referendum result, the Conservatives had a leadership election in which Rees-Mogg initially supported Boris Johnson. After Johnson chose not to run, Rees-Mogg endorsed Michael Gove and after Gove was eliminated he backed Andrea Leadsom. Leadsom then withdrew, allowing Theresa May to become Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

Rees-Mogg supported the then-Republican Party nominee Donald Trump during 2016 U.S. presidential election. In October 2016, when the Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape surfaced, he distanced himself from Trump's Twitter messages, saying that Twitter was "fundamentally trivial". In May 2018 he wrote an article for The Times titled 'Trump Will Be Our Greatest Ally After Brexit', saying that he "appealed to voters left behind by the metropolitan elite and he exudes confidence about his own nation and a determination not to be a manager of decline, which also inspires the Brexiteers".

In November 2017, Rees-Mogg met Trump's former White House Chief Strategist and Breitbart News''' executive chairman Steve Bannon to discuss how right-wing movements can succeed in the United Kingdom and the United States. Rees-Mogg later defended the meeting when asked about it in an interview, stating, "I've talked to any number of people whose political views I do not share or fully endorse. ... Inevitably politicians meet other politicians. Mr Bannon was the chief of staff to President Trump and is a senior figure in the Republican Party."

In 2017, he supported the confidence and supply agreement made between the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He later addressed a DUP fundraising event, drawing criticism from the Northern Ireland Conservatives.

Rees-Mogg was widely regarded as a potential candidate for the leadership of his party, something he was reportedly considering during 2017. On 13 August 2017, however, Rees-Mogg said that such speculation was "part of media's silly season". Two Conservative MPs, Heidi Allen and Anna Soubry, announced that they would leave the party if he became leader; another, Justine Greening, suggested she could do the same. However, other Conservative MPs, such as Jesse Norman, and Daniel Kawczynski have expressed support for a prospective Rees-Mogg leadership bid. Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage also backed a potential Rees-Mogg candidacy.

Following the 2017 general election, calls were made for Theresa May to step down as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party after failing to win an overall majority in the House of Commons. This led news outlets to begin speculating on May's possible successor with Boris Johnson touted as the bookmakers' favourite and Rees-Mogg being given 50/1 odds. A day after the election on 9 June, an online petition, titled Ready for Rees-Mogg, was set up urging Rees-Mogg to run for leader of the Conservative Party. Hoping to mirror the success of pro-Corbyn activist group Momentum, a 'play on words' hashtag of Moggmentum was created. By 8 July 2017, the campaign had attracted over 13,000 signatures and raised £2,000 in donations with leadership odds being cut to 16/1, making him second favourite behind David Davis. On 14 August, co-founder of Ready for Rees-Mogg Sam Frost announced the petition had gathered 22,000 registered supporters, 700 volunteers and £7,000 in donations, despite Rees-Mogg having said a day earlier that such speculation was "part of media's silly season" and that "no-body serious" believed he was a candidate. On 5 September 2017, a poll conducted by ConservativeHome put Rees-Mogg as the favourite for next leader, with 23% of the votes based on 1,309 people surveyed.

He was elected chair of the European Research Group, a Eurosceptic pressure group within the Conservative Party, in January 2018. A report in The Independent suggested that this position provided him with the immediate support of around 50 Conservative MPs, a sufficient number to trigger a leadership contest. Since then, Rees-Mogg directly criticised the leadership of May and chancellor Philip Hammond, fuelling more rumours that he was planning to stand for the leadership but reiterated he had no intention of doing so. In February, a speech that Rees-Mogg was giving at the University of the West of England was disrupted when left wing protesters accused him of being a racist and a bigot; violence broke out between the protesters and Mogg's supporters.

A supporter of "hard Brexit" (although he prefers the term "clean Brexit"), Rees-Mogg was highly critical of the government's handling of the Brexit negotiations, in particular Theresa May's "Chequers deal", calling it "staying in the EU without a vote":

He supported a "Canada-plus" deal as a compromise; this would allow for tariff-free trade, without the UK remaining in the single market or the customs union.

In 2018, as part of a Sunday Times investigation into online abuse following controversial comments made by Boris Johnson regarding the niqab and media attention regarding alleged Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, it was reported that a number of Facebook groups supportive of Rees-Mogg and Johnson (some of which included Conservative councillors and officials) were leaving "widespread" Islamophobic and racist comments on Johnson's Facebook page. In response, Rees-Mogg said he was supporting a private member's bill put forward by Labour MP Lucy Powell to regulate social media, and added "people who have these types of views should take no solace in using [Johnson's] comments as an excuse to take this approach". Rees-Mogg defended Johnson against accusations of Islamophobia and criticised the party for initiating disciplinary action against Johnson – in order, Rees-Mogg said, to weaken Johnson politically – calling it a "low-grade abuse of power" as well as a "show trial" and a "witch hunt".

On 15 November 2018, Rees-Mogg implied that he might submit a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister over her draft Brexit proposal. Later that day, he submitted such a letter to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs and told reporters "What Theresa May says and does no longer match" but added, "this is nothing to do with personal ambition". Following May's announcement that she would call off the House of Commons vote on her Brexit deal due to widespread dislike of the deal, Rees-Mogg made a statement saying: "What has two years of Theresa May doing Brexit amounted to? An undeliverable deal Parliament would roundly reject, if the prime minister has the gumption to allow it to go before the House of Commons. This is not governing, it risks putting Jeremy Corbyn into government by failing to deliver Brexit. We cannot continue like this. The prime minister must either govern or quit." In November 2018, Rees-Mogg suggested the party elect Boris Johnson as its new leader.

Rees-Mogg was described as the leading figure within the unsuccessful effort for a vote of no confidence in Theresa May as party leader by the parliamentary Conservative Party on 12 December. Despite losing the vote, Rees-Mogg continued his calls for May to resign as leader the following day, stating that the Prime Minister had "clearly lost the support of the back benches of the Conservative Party". Rees-Mogg received criticism for his role in this effort from junior minister Tobias Ellwood, who called his actions "destructive", "divisive" and "selfish". On 18 December, Rees-Mogg said: "Under Tory party rules the prime minister won, that is a mandate for the next year. I therefore fully support her, I lost the vote last week." He later voted against the Labour Party's motion of no confidence on 16 January 2019, having stated earlier that day on Politics Live that he would support the Prime Minister.

Rees-Mogg said on 22 February 2019 that he opposed Home Secretary Sajid Javid's decision to revoke the UK citizenship of Shamima Begum, one of the Bethnal Green trio, as she was eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship. On his Friday night show on LBC, he stated that he thought that "there is a fundamental equality in British citizens and if you can't take [his] passport away, then you shouldn't be able to take it away from anybody else" and argued that "Why on earth should Bangladeshis pick up a problem that's essentially our problem. We're trying to put our litter in our neighbour's garden."

 Johnson government (2019–2022)

Rees-Mogg endorsed Boris Johnson to become leader of the Conservative Party following the resignation of Theresa May. Following Johnson's election as leader on 23 July 2019 and appointment as Prime Minister the next day, Rees-Mogg was appointed Leader of the House of Commons, replacing Mel Stride. He also became Lord President of the Council and attended cabinet meetings in the Johnson government. This was the first time that Rees-Mogg either served in a government role or the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

On 3 September, Rees-Mogg became subject of criticism by fellow MPs after a picture of him reclining on the bench of House of Commons during a debate about the Brexit was published in the media. Rees-Mogg was accused of being contemptuous. Also in September 2019 he apologised after comparing neurologist David Nicholl, who was involved in the government's Operation Yellowhammer report, to discredited anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield. Rees-Mogg has supported a vaccine against coronavirus and has called anti-vaxxers "nutters".

During the 2019 general election, Rees-Mogg was criticised after an interview with LBC's Nick Ferrari during which he said it would have been "common sense" for residents to flee the Grenfell Tower fire, ignoring fire brigade advice to stay put. Several hours later, Rees-Mogg said he "profoundly apologised" for his comments. Rees-Mogg subsequently made fewer media appearances throughout the rest of the election campaign (in which the Conservatives ultimately won), fuelling speculation in the media that he was under orders from Downing Street to keep a low profile as a result of the Ferrari interview, which was supposedly perceived as damaging to the party. Later in the campaign, in an interview with Boris Johnson, Ferrari asked Johnson: "Where is Moggy? [...] I don't see him anywhere." Johnson responded that Rees-Mogg was campaigning actively around the country.

In 2020 Rees-Mogg accused UNICEF of a political stunt after it announced for the first time in its 70-year history it would be providing food parcels to children in deprived areas of London prior to Christmas. Rees-Mogg said that UNICEF were "playing politics when it is meant to be looking after people in the poorest, the most deprived countries in the world, where people are starving, where there are famines and where there are civil wars." Rees-Mogg was branded "Scrooge" by Labour MP Neil Coyle, whose constituency Bermondsey and Old Southwark is one of the affected areas. In his comments, Rees-Mogg stated the charity was "faffing around in England" and "Unicef should be ashamed of itself".

In January 2021 Rees-Mogg broke government coronavirus guidance by travelling  from his residence in the Tier 3 area of West Harptree to a church in the Tier 4 area of Glastonbury to attend a Latin Mass. The government's guidance was that people could worship in Tier 4 but were not permitted to travel between tiers. A spokesman for Rees-Mogg said that he "regularly attends the only old rite mass available in the Clifton diocese which meets his religious obligations." In October 2021 Rees-Mogg dismissed criticisms that Conservative MPs in the House of Commons should wear face masks. He said they knew each other and this meant they were acting in line with government COVID guidance.

Rees-Mogg has been criticised for calling Welsh a "foreign language". During a 2021 Commons debate, where Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts wished people "Happy St Patrick's Day" in Welsh and Irish, Rees-Mogg replied that "modest quotation in foreign languages is permissible" but not full speeches. Saville Roberts later pointed out that Welsh is not a foreign language and, historically, had been spoken for centuries before English in Britain.

In October 2021 Rees-Mogg said that the main cause of labour shortages in the UK was the effects of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic rather than Brexit. He said: "The lorry driver shortage is nothing to do with European labour movements. 89% of lorry drivers are UK born and bred in 2021, exactly the same level as in 2016." In January 2022 Rees-Mogg suggested that the forthcoming COVID Inquiry must look at whether COVID regulations had been proportionate or too onerous.

In February 2022 he was appointed Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency.

In April 2022 he called for civil servants to return to working in their offices instead of working from home. He expressed concerns about low attendance rate and inefficiency. He was criticised by Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA trade union for civil servants, for leaving notes at the empty desks of civil servants reading "I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon." Penman said the note was "crass and insulting, and undermined civil service leadership."

In July 2022, following the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis, Rees-Mogg considered entering the race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and thus Prime Minister, as a "pro-Boris" candidate. He later supported Liz Truss in the election.

 Truss government (2022)
Rees-Mogg was appointed Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 6 September 2022 by Prime Minister Liz Truss. Environmental groups expressed concern at his appointment due to his views on climate change and oversight over the UK's net zero targets. His previous office of Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency was abolished.

In October 2022, during the Conservative Party Conference, Rees-Mogg said that he would be "delighted" to allow fracking in his back garden.

 Return to the backbenches
On 25 October 2022, Rees-Mogg resigned from the frontbench upon the appointment of Rishi Sunak as prime minister and returned to the backbenches.

 Interference in the work of House of Commons Committee of Privileges

On 23 June 2023 Rees-Mogg was one of a number of MPs named in a Special Report by the Privileges Committee. This report was on the co-ordinated campaign of interference (by Rees-Mogg and others) into the Committee investigation into former Prime Minister Boris Johnson intentionally misleading Parliament.

 Political ideology

Rees-Mogg's political views have been described as High Tory, reactionary, traditionalist, nationalist, socially conservative, and right-wing populist, although he has rejected that description stating that he stands for "popular policies, not populist policies". In 2023, Rees-Mogg identified as a national conservative.

Rees-Mogg is a staunch monarchist and a member of the Cornerstone Group.

 Opposition to membership of the European Union
Rees-Mogg's public statements on the European Union and referendum on membership have changed over time. In 2011, referring to the then proposed European Union membership referendum, Rees-Mogg suggested a process with two referendums, saying: "Indeed, we could have two referendums. As it happens, it might make more sense to have the second referendum after the renegotiation is completed."Quoted in  In his May 2012 lecture to the Centre for Policy Studies, in which he laid out his broad policy position on a range of issues, Rees-Mogg referred to the European Union saying: "I am not an advocate of withdrawal from it but instead I want a fundamental renegotiation of terms".Quoted in

Writing in The Daily Telegraph in May 2013, the Eurosceptic Rees-Mogg asked whether it was time to make a "big open and comprehensive offer" to the UK Independence Party (UKIP). He said collaboration would be straightforward as policies were similar on "many issues" and most Conservatives would prefer Nigel Farage to Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister. His remarks angered his party leadership, while UKIP said it was against any formal arrangements. In January 2019, shortly after Farage left UKIP, Rees-Mogg expressed support for Farage potentially returning to the Conservative Party, stating, "personally I hold Nigel in the highest regard and think he was one of these people who was instrumental in delivering Brexit."

As a vocal critic of the European Union, Rees-Mogg was a leading figure in the campaign for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, appearing in a number of interviews to debate the topic. Speaking at the Oxford Union, he described the EU as a threat to British democracy and to the sovereignty of parliament citing various countries' rejection of the European Constitution which was later implemented via the Treaty of Lisbon. He later credited the DUP for having "saved" Brexit by torpedoing an agreement between the government and the EU. After meeting with a representative of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, he criticised the party for being insufficiently eurosceptic, stating that "German euroscepticism is milk to British euroscepticism's brandy."

In April 2019 Rees-Mogg was criticised online after he tweeted a video of a speech made by Alice Weidel, the co-leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, said Rees-Mogg was "promoting Germany's overtly racist party, AfD". Speaking later, Rees-Mogg said: "I'm not supporting the AfD. But this is a speech in the Bundestag of real importance because it shows a German view of Brexit." He replied to Lammy in a statement on LBC radio saying: "Once again, Mr Lammy's reputation for under-statement is reinforced."

UCL's modern Jewish history professor Michael Berkowitz accused Rees-Mogg of trafficking in antisemitic tropes when Rees-Mogg castigated his opponents in a Commons debate on 'no-deal' Brexit (specifically Oliver Letwin and John Bercow – both of whom are Jewish) as "Illuminati who are taking the powers to themselves." In October 2019, Rees-Mogg faced similar criticism from David Lammy when he suggested that George Soros was allegedly the "funder-in-chief" of the Remain campaign.

 Education
Counter to the Conservatives' U-turn on turning state schools into academies, Rees-Mogg is a proponent of academy-based education, reasoning that it gives schools more freedom from local education authorities to make decisions and cuts down on bureaucracy. While defending the list of Conservative candidates for the 2005 election, he said that it would be foolish to disbar candidates who attended Oxford and Cambridge Universities from selection. He stated: "We don't want to make it harder for intellectually able people to be Tory party candidates", saying that the country would not be best run by "potted plants".

In February 2018, police launched an investigation after Rees-Mogg was caught in the middle of an altercation at a university campus when left wing protesters disrupted a student event in Bristol. The non-platforming and interference received cross party condemnation with Jo Swinson, then Leader of the Liberal Democrats, tweeting that she was "deeply worried by the violence" and Labour MP Angela Rayner also tweeted saying that she "utterly condemned the behaviour" of those who tried to attack Rees-Mogg and that she found the tactics "intimidating".

 Environment and climate change
Rees-Mogg has set out his views on environment and climate change in a number of public documents, articles and interviews. He is skeptical of the need to mitigate climate change, instead arguing for adaptation, and believes carbon neutrality targets increase energy prices.

In 2012, Rees-Mogg questioned the scientific consensus on climate change, claiming that the effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the climate "remains much debated". According to Fiona Harvey, Rees-Mogg has "many times voiced climate denialism – even to the extent of misrepresenting climate science", highlighting several times he had criticised the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Rees-Mogg was one of 100 MPs who wrote to David Cameron successfully pressurising the government to withdraw subsidies and change planning rules for onshore wind. Rees-Mogg is an investor in oil and coal mining through Somerset Capital Management, which he benefits from financially.

Rees-Mogg blamed "climate alarmism" for rising energy prices in 2013, advocating the continued use of fossil fuels.

Rees-Mogg suggested in 2017 that environmental regulations could be relaxed, stating: "We could say, if it's good enough in India, it's good enough for here. There's nothing to stop that. We could take it a very long way ... I accept that we're not going to allow dangerous toys to come in from China, we don't want to see those kind of risks. But there's a very long way you can go."

In October 2021, Rees-Mogg said that there was enough time for the UK to do its part to tackle climate change. He said the UK had 30 years to reach its target of net zero carbon emissions. He stated that parts used for solar energy had fallen in price over the last 20 years, making renewable energy more affordable. In April 2022, Rees-Mogg stated that "We need to be thinking about exploiting every last cubic inch of gas from the North Sea. We are not going for net zero tomorrow – 2050 is a long way off".

 Economic and labour policy
While Rees-Mogg largely espouses free market economic views, he endorses a role for state intervention, having been influenced by both Robert Peel, an economic liberal, and Benjamin Disraeli, a protectionist. He believes that improving people's lives requires "some use of the powers that the government has".

In 2013, Rees-Mogg expressed support for zero-hour contracts, arguing that they benefit employees, including students, by providing flexibility and could provide a route into more permanent employment. He rejected criticism by Vince Cable and others that they were exploitative as "the standard response of the left". In September 2017, Rees-Mogg suggested that food banks fulfil a vital function, and proceeded to argue that "to have charitable support given by people voluntarily to support their fellow citizens I think is rather uplifting and shows what a good, compassionate country we are". He went on to argue that "the real reason for the rise in numbers is that people know that they are there and Labour deliberately didn't tell them." During the same interview, Rees-Mogg conceded that people have "found life tough" but suggested the best way out of poverty was through employment.

In 2022, Rees-Mogg suggested that corporations should no longer have to report on the gender pay gap and the speed with which they pay their suppliers.

 Foreign relations
Rees-Mogg has taken a mixed approach to British involvement in the Syrian Civil War, denouncing a proposal to arm the Syrian rebels, but subsequently voting in favour of a failed proposal for British military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime in 2013. In October 2015, he argued that "The consequences of the efforts to undermine Assad have been the rise of terrorism and the mass movement of people."

He voted in favour of British military action against the Islamic State in Iraq in 2014 and in Syria in 2015.

He has described foreign aid as a "really wasteful approach to government spending", and in 2018 supported a campaign by the Daily Express to reduce Britain's foreign aid budget.

 Immigration
Rees-Mogg has previously voted for a stricter asylum system and a more controlled immigration policy in order to reduce net migration. According to Nigel Farage, Rees-Mogg believes a poster featuring the words "breaking point" overlaid on an image of columns of Syrian refugees entering Europe "won the referendum" for the Leave campaign. Rees-Mogg favours the end of free movement of people to the United Kingdom. He wants non-British EU citizens residing in the UK to be protected with "broadly the same rights as British citizens – no better or worse", and not have rights given to them retrospectively retracted.

In May 2018, Rees-Mogg criticised May's target of reducing immigration numbers to 100,000 per year as too low, describing it as "a number that was plucked out of the air" and as "pulling up the drawbridge", and said he was "very sympathetic" to removing student visas from official immigration numbers.

 Social issues
Regarding same-sex marriage, Rees-Mogg has stated that he is opposed to it and "not proud" of it being legal, and that it has alienated traditional supporters of the Conservative Party. In 2013, Rees-Mogg said that on the issue of same-sex marriage, he took his "whip from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church rather than the [Conservative] Whip's Office". He later elaborated that in his view "marriage is a sacrament and the decision of what is a sacrament lies with the Church, not with Parliament."

Rees-Mogg has said that he does not believe Britain's laws on same-sex marriage or abortion will change.

Rees-Mogg is against abortion in all circumstances, stating: "life begins at the point of conception. He has described abortion as "a cult of death" and a "modern tragedy", adding "with same-sex marriage, that is something that people are doing for themselves. With abortion, that is what people are doing to the unborn child". In September 2017, he expressed "a great sadness" on hearing about how online retailers had reduced pricing of emergency contraception. In October 2017, it was reported that Somerset Capital Management, of which Rees-Mogg was a partner, had invested £5m in Kalbe Farma, a company that produces and markets misoprostol pills designed to treat stomach ulcers but widely used in illegal abortions in Indonesia. Rees-Mogg defended the investment by arguing that the company in question "obeys Indonesian law so it's a legitimate investment and there's no hypocrisy. The law in Indonesia would satisfy the Vatican". Several days later, it was reported that the same company also held shares in FDC, a company that sold drugs used as part of legal abortions in India. Somerset Capital Management subsequently sold the shares it had held in FDC. Rees-Mogg said: "I am glad to say it's a stock that we no longer hold. I would not try to defend investing in companies that did things I believe are morally wrong".

Rees-Mogg is opposed to capital punishment, and favours due process for British jihadists operating abroad.

Media
Rees-Mogg appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show in 1999, where he was interviewed by Ali G, who called him "Lord Rees-Mogg" and attempted to talk about social class.

In October 2017, Rees-Mogg presented talk radio station LBC's morning show for a day, where he discussed Brexit, foreign policy and the T-charge with callers, including Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable. Rees-Mogg was praised for his sense of charm and humour. He returned to present a Sunday show on LBC in February 2018.

Rees-Mogg has his own dedicated podcast known as 'The MoggCast', which, in association with ConservativeHome, features him discussing a wide array of current events on a fortnightly basis.

On 15 July 2017, he joined Twitter, writing in Latin:  ("The times change, and we change with them"). He also uses Instagram and other social media.

In January 2023, Rees-Mogg was announced to be joining GB News as a host and presenter.

In July 2023, media regulator Ofcom announced that they were investigating whether a GB News episode starring Jacob Rees-Mogg broke their rules on preventing politicians from acting as newsreaders.

 Public image

Rees-Mogg has cultivated a public image as a quintessentially English gentleman, whose anachronistic upper-class mannerisms and consciously traditionalist attitudes have led to him being dubbed the "Honourable Member for the 18th century".

According to an article in the Evening Standard in 2018, Rees-Mogg has generated controversy in the past through some of his "more extreme views". In 2017 the commentator Suzanne Moore compared Rees-Mogg to Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, and Donald Trump, suggesting that like them "he embodies the three things that many people require of modern politicians: a veneer of authenticity; an ability to cut through perceived liberal wisdom; and enormous privilege that is flaunted, rather than hidden." Moore was of the view that he uses his "religious faith" in an attempt to "excuse his appalling bigotry". Moore went on to describe him as "a thoroughly modern bigot" and to describe his political views as "verg[ing] on fascistic ... dressed up in tweed with a knowledge of the classics".

Rees-Mogg has at various times both described himself as a "man of the people" and rejected that description, saying: "The 'man of the people' act is the height of condescension."

 Personal life
Rees-Mogg is the uncle of Olympic athlete Lawrence Clarke and fellow Conservative MP Theo Clarke.

In 2006 Rees-Mogg became engaged to Helena Anne Beatrix Wentworth Fitzwilliam de Chair, a writer for a trade magazine and the only child of Somerset de Chair and his fourth wife Lady Juliet Tadgell. Rees-Mogg had first met de Chair, a close friend of his sister, when they were children, and they began dating the year before their engagement, after Rees-Mogg had gained the blessing of her mother. The couple were married at Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, in 2007, in a ceremony at which the post-Vatican II Mass was celebrated in Latin.

In 2010 the couple purchased the Grade II* listed Gournay Court in West Harptree, where they live with their six children. The house is a former Red Cross hospital where Rees-Mogg's great aunt served as a volunteer nurse and the resident matron during the First World War.

Rees-Mogg is a traditionalist Catholic. He attends Traditional Latin Mass.

In July 2017 Rees-Mogg said: "I've made no pretence to be a modern man at all, ever" and commented that he had never changed a nappy, stating: "I don't think nanny would approve because I'm sure she'd think I wouldn't do it properly." In September 2017, Labour MP Harriet Harman said that "Men who don't change nappies are deadbeat dads – and that includes Jacob Rees-Mogg".

As a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Historic Vehicles, Rees-Mogg has an interest in historic cars. Aged 23, he purchased a 1968 T-Series Bentley previously owned by cricketer Gubby Allen. In 2005, Rees-Mogg added a 1936 3.5 Litre Bentley to his collection, and used a Lexus for everyday use. Rees-Mogg is a cricket enthusiast, and has supported Somerset County Cricket Club since his youth.

In May 2018, he purchased a £5 million property on Cowley Street, behind Westminster Abbey.

Titles, styles, and arms

When his father was appointed a life peer in 1988, he became entitled to the style of The Honourable as the son of a Baron. Upon appointment to the Privy Council on 25 July 2019 at Buckingham Palace he received the style of The Right Honourable'' for life. He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2022 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.

Electoral history

Awards
Foot in Mouth Award

Writings

See also
 Moggmentum, a fan movement for Jacob Rees-Mogg.

References

External links

 Jacob Rees-Mogg MP Conservative Party page
 Jacob Rees-Mogg  North East Somerset Conservatives
Jacob Rees-Mogg | Politics | The Guardian

Ring Rees-Mogg on LBC

1969 births
Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
British monarchists
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
English people of American descent
English people of Irish descent
English Roman Catholics
Living people
People educated at Eton College
Politicians from Hammersmith
People from Mendip District
Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association
Politics of Bath and North East Somerset
Jacob
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present
British anti-abortion activists
Lord Presidents of the Council
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Knights Bachelor
Politicians from Somerset
Sons of life peers
People named in the Paradise Papers
British Eurosceptics
Conservatism in the United Kingdom
Right-wing politics in the United Kingdom
Right-wing populists
GB News newsreaders and journalists

Jacob Rees-Mogg


Duncker's pipehorse (Solegnathus dunckeri), also known as the nose-ridge pipefish, red-and-gold pipehorse, red-hair pipefish or spiny sea dragon, is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island.  It is a pelagic species which is found in the waters of the continental shelf and the continental slope. Fishermen within its range report that it is caught where there are hard substrates such as hard sand, shale, sandstone or gravel and they are often caught alongside gorgonians, black corals, algae or sponges . It is an ovoviviparous species in which the male bears the fertilised eggs in a brood pouch located under his tail. It is a carnivorous species which feeds on small planktonic crustacean.

Its body has a variable colour, from creamy through to brown or even black with pinkish-orange and dark markings along the superior ridges on its back and 10-11 irregularly shaped, indistinct, pale pinkish or dark bands on back and sides and there are also dark markings along the underside of the tail; and ghosts of dark barring on the ventral surface of its trunk rings. In darker individuals the tip of the snout is often pale. The head and body is covered in spines except around the gills, the fin bases and the vent.

It was named in honour of Georg Duncker a German ichthyologist, who had a particular interest in pipefish.

It is classified as Data Deficient by the IUCN and is a listed marine species under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

References

Duncker's pipehorse
Marine fish of Eastern Australia
Fish of Lord Howe Island
Taxa named by Gilbert Percy Whitley
Duncker's pipehorse
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Duncker's pipehorse


Thomas Alexander Crerar,  (June 17, 1876 – April 11, 1975) was a western Canadian politician and a leader of the short-lived Progressive Party of Canada.  He was born in Molesworth, Ontario, and moved to Manitoba at a young age.

Early career
Crerar rose to prominence as leader of the Manitoba Grain Growers' Association in the 1910s.  Although he had no experience as an elected official, he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in Robert Laird Borden's Union government on October 12, 1917, to provide a show of national unity during the First World War.  He was easily elected to the House of Commons of Canada for Marquette in the election of 1917.

On June 6, 1919, Crerar resigned from his position in protest against the high tariff policies of the Conservative-dominated government.  He was strongly in favor of free trade with the United States, which would have benefited the western farmers.

Progressive Party of Canada
In 1920, he was selected as leader of the Progressive Party. In the 1921 election, he led the party to a landslide victory in western Canada, giving them 65 seats in the House of Commons. Crerar failed to hold the party together, however.  He resigned as leader in 1922, and the party collapsed shortly thereafter.

Private sector work
Crerar spent some time in the private sector before returning to politics in 1929, as a member of William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party.  Although once again not holding a seat in parliament, he was appointed Minister of Railways and Canals (Canada) on December 30, 1929, and won a by-election in Brandon on February 5, 1930.  King's government was defeated in the general election that followed, however, and Crerar was personally defeated in his riding.

Return to politics

He returned to parliament in the 1935 election, as the member for the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill.  He was once again appointed to King's cabinet, serving as Minister of Immigration and Colonization, Minister of Mines, Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs from October 23, 1935, to November 30, 1936.  On December 1, 1936, he was removed from most of his responsibilities and became simply Minister of Mines and Resources, holding the position until April 17, 1945.

Crerar was appointed to the Senate of Canada on April 18, 1945, and remained a Senator until his retirement on May 31, 1966. In 1962, Crerar considered it an "error" to give voting rights to Inuit and advocated revoking this right for Inuit in the eastern Arctic to vote. In 1973, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He died in 1975.

Electoral history

References

External links

1876 births
1975 deaths
Canadian senators from Manitoba
Companions of the Order of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Liberal Party of Canada senators
Liberal-Unionist MPs in Canada
Canadian Ministers of Railways and Canals
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Progressive Party of Canada MPs
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Interior ministers of Canada
Canadian people of World War II

Thomas Crerar


In 2D computer graphics, onion skinning is a technique used in creating animated cartoons and editing movies to see several frames at once. This way, the animator or editor can make decisions on how to create or change an image based on the previous image in the sequence.

In traditional animation, the individual frames of a movie were initially drawn on thin onionskin paper over a light source. The animators (mostly inbetweeners) would put the previous and next drawings exactly beneath the working drawing, so that they could draw the 'in between'  to give a smooth motion.

In computer software, this effect is achieved by making frames translucent and projecting them on top of each other.

This effect can also be used to create motion blurs, as seen in The Matrix when characters dodge bullets.

See also
 Anime Studio
 Adobe Flash
 TVPaint
 3ds max

External links
Onion Skinning in I Can Animate
 Shape Shifter at Aniboom. To see onion skinning, press 'o' then create a shape, add a frame, move your shape, and repeat.
Animation techniques
Computer graphic techniques

Onion skinning


Al Bell (born Alvertis Isbell; March 15, 1940) is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the label's 19-year existence.

A former disc jockey in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, Bell was vital to the careers of Stax's soul stars such as the Staple Singers and Isaac Hayes, the Emotions, the Dramatics, and Mel and Tim. Bell's promotional efforts drove the "Memphis sound" internationally and made Stax the second-largest African-American–owned business in the 1970s. In 2009, the BBC profiled Bell as "one of the icons of soul music" and "the driving force behind Stax Records".

Following his career at Stax, Bell became president of Motown Records Group during its restructuring for sale to MCA and Boston Ventures Group. He later started his own label, Bellmark, whose releases included Tag Team's single "Whoomp! (There It Is)" (1993). Today, Bell works in the independent music scene in Memphis and maintains an online music website and radio show at AlBellPresents.com.

Biography

Early career at Stax
Bell joined Stax in 1965 as director of promotions and was essential in aiding the growth of the company's revenue. Over the next three years, he rose through the ranks of the company, eventually becoming executive vice president and the most influential figure in the company after co-founder Jim Stewart. In addition to his administrative and promotional work, Bell was often directly involved in the production of the label's music, working as a songwriter and a producer for several acts on the label.

In 1968, following the plane crash that killed Stax's biggest star, Otis Redding, Stax severed its distribution deal with Atlantic Records, who retained the label's back catalog to that point. Bell launched an initiative designed to put out enough albums and singles in an effort to rebuild a catalog for Stax. New signees included gospel stars the Staple Singers as well as newcomers the Emotions and the Soul Children. Bell notably scheduled twenty-seven albums for near-simultaneous release in mid-1969 and produced much of the material himself. One of those albums, Hot Buttered Soul, by Stax songwriter and producer Isaac Hayes, was a significant success, establishing Hayes as a recording artist in his own right. Bell was directly involved in shaping the careers of the Staple Singers, creating for them a new sound which resulted in hits such as "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There," the latter of which he wrote.

Stax in the 1970s
Bell became co-owner of Stax in 1969 when co-founder Estelle Axton, unhappy with Bell's visions for the company, sold her shares and departed from the label. He therefore became the first African-American to have equity in the label; although Stax specialized in African-American music, both of its founders, Stewart and Axton, were white.

In the 1970s Stewart began turning over more and more of Stax's daily operations to Bell, who began ambitious plans to expand the company's operations, similar to what Berry Gordy, Jr. had been doing at Motown Records. Stax began distributing music from several smaller Memphis labels and produced and released the soundtracks for feature films such as Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Shaft (both 1971).  In 1972, Al Bell supervised the Wattstax festival, a day-long concert featuring Stax artists which was held in Los Angeles in response to the Watts riots. The 1973 documentary film Wattstax was produced by the label's new film division.

After four years of the label distributing its own records, Bell signed a new distribution deal with CBS Records in 1972. Stax's relationship with CBS was tumultuous at best; with Bell and the Stax staff borrowing heavily from Memphis' Union Planters Bank but CBS withholding records from stores and profits from Stax, the label's fortunes sharply declined until it slid into bankruptcy and was closed by court order in late 1975. Bell was indicted for, and later acquitted of, bank fraud during the Stax bankruptcy proceedings.

Later career
After Stax folded, Bell returned to Little Rock. He voluntarily stayed away from the music industry for a decade, save for periodic participation in local recordings. In the 1980s, he became head of the Motown Records Group and worked closely with Berry Gordy Jr. in the sale of Motown to the MCA/Boston Ventures Group. After Motown, he discovered the music group Tag Team and through his Bellmark Records label released their hit single "Whoomp! (There It Is)" (1993), which became one of the fastest-selling singles in the music industry history. Bell also released Prince's hit single "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", after Prince's label Warner Bros. Records turned him down.

After Bellmark Records, Bell returned to Little Rock to begin work on a new web-based venture, Al Bell Presents, for which he hosts a successful online radio program, Al Bell Presents: American Soul Music. In 2009, Bell was profiled in The New York Times and on the BBC as he returned to Memphis to help develop the city's independent music scene.

Awards
Bell has received numerous awards, including:
 Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive, September 14, 2022
 Induction into the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in Clarksdale, Mississippi, June 6, 2015
 Inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame, February 13, 2015
 Induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, 2014
 Grammy Trustees Award, 2011
Arthur A. Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Black Chamber of Commerce
Alex Haley "Roots Award," Greater Washington, DC Business Center
National Award of Achievement, U.S. Department of Commerce
Dare to Soar Award, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
Achievement Award, Boy Scouts of America
1000 Most Successful Blacks, Ebony Magazine
100 Most Influential Black Men, Ebony Magazine
Entered in "Who's Who in the World"
Induction into America's Music and Entertainment of Fame
Induction into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame
Member of the Board of Directors, Memphis Chamber of Commerce
Member of the Board of Directors, Central Arkansas Chapter of the March of Dimes
Member of the Board of Trustees, Philander Smith College
Memphis' Legendary Record Producers Award, 2005
W.C. Handy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2002
Record Executive of the Year, Impact Magazine, 1994
Record Executive of the Year, BRE, 1994
Chairman's Award, Southeast Music, 1994
NARM Indie Best Seller Award ("Whoomp! There It Is", Tag Team), 1994
Independent Label of the Year Award, The Urban Network, 1994
The Spirit of Freedom Award, Freedom Magazine, 1994
Russell Simmons Award for Executive Excellence, Young Black Programmers' Coalition, 1993
Black Music Chief Executive of the Year, Impact, 1993
Living Legend Award, Warner Bros., Reprise Records & Urban Network, 1972 Heroes and Legends Leadership Award, 1991
Voted Number Five in the 30 All-Time Greatest Executives in Black Music, Impact Magazine Poll, 1985
Best Documentary (Wattstax), nomination Golden Globe (1973)
Executive of the Year, Bill Gavin Radio Program Conference, 1971

References

External links
Al Bell Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2018)

1940 births
Living people
African-American songwriters
Songwriters from Arkansas
Record producers from Arkansas
Writers from Little Rock, Arkansas
Philander Smith College alumni
People from Brinkley, Arkansas
Stax Records
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American musicians

Al Bell