Annunziata Rees-Mogg

Saturday

Annunziata Rees-Mogg

Why I’m backing the Tories over Reform

From our UK edition

You can often tell a lot about people, not by what they say but how they say it. Three weeks ago, I appealed to you to help me make up my mind, as a lifelong Tory, as to how to vote in Boston and Skegness, the constituency in which I live. Many of you kindly responded. Nearly all had a tone of slight despair, much mistrust and a smattering of anger. As far as my experience goes, Reform is the Church of Nigel The two main protagonists in my piece also contacted me. First was Matt Warman, the local Conservative candidate who is defending a 25,000 majority. Warman, as I wrote in my piece, seemed to be one of those blancmange types who could have been moulded in the Labour party or the slightly more liberal end of the Lib Dems. His message opened with: 'Hello – trust all well.

Thursday

Annunziata Rees-Mogg

I’m a lifelong Tory. Should I vote Reform?

From our UK edition

For more than 30 years, I have knocked on doors and dutifully recorded voting intentions. I’m sure every party has their own abbreviations but during my Tory canvassing career, ‘U’ stood for undecided. I often wondered at – and, in part, admired – those people who were genuinely open to any party. It was an affliction that I did not suffer from, but I could see its merits. If people like me don’t vote Tory, Keir Starmer will, of course, have an even bigger majority Now that Nigel Farage has entered the race for a Reform party whose agenda is very close to the principles I’ve always believed in, I am, for the first time, a ‘U’. I live in the constituency of Boston and Skegness. My Conservative candidate, Matt Warman, is defending a 25,000 majority.

Thursday

Annunziata Rees-Mogg

Diary – 2 May 2019

From our UK edition

Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn. So it was for me a few weeks ago when, driving up the A1 on my way home to Lincolnshire, I saw some graffiti that made me think. The words sprayed on to a bridge support were as simple as they were powerful: ‘DON’T VOTE. ACT.’ It scared me that some people were so disillusioned they felt they had to take things into their own hands. But then again, if acting means standing for election, would it be such a bad thing? I tried it before, most recently as a Tory candidate in the general election of 2010. I can’t say I loved the experience.