Jacob Rees-Mogg: We need to stop the ‘Ukip-isation’ of Brexit

The star of Conservative party conference so far can’t be found in the main hall. Instead, they are best spotted at fringe events – each of which ends up being an oversubscribed event that involves a massive queue. Step forward Jacob Rees-Mogg. The arch-Brexiteer has been causing a scene wherever he goes with activists stopping him for photos. At today’s Policy Exchange fringe event – titled ‘Can the Conservatives win in Canterbury and Middlesbrough at the same time?’ – the Moggster only needed to take his seat on the panel to trigger cries of ‘Mogg for PM!’ from the audience.

Although Rees-Mogg has repeatedly ruled himself out as a future prime minister, the Conservative backbencher – and chair of the European Research Group – did have some words of advice for his party on branding. Asked whether Brexit was what is stopping young voters from flocking to the party, Rees-Mogg said that it shouldn’t be – adding that a failure of Brexit ‘propaganda’ was to blame for any negative image:

‘I think there’s lots of failures of propaganda really that we have allowed Brexit to be about immigration or putting up barriers or not liking going on holiday in Europe.