Jacob Rees-Mogg could be made to pay for his poor performance leading up to the election – with the Tory toff expected to be booted out of the cabinet by Boris Johnson.
Controversial Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg was sidelined during the Conservative campaign after causing an outcry with callous remarks about the Grenfell Tower inferno.
The North East Somerset MP was barely seen following his live radio interview, during which he suggested victims could have been saved if they used “common sense” and fled the tower block. He was later forced to apologise.
It is reported he will be one of the first to go when the Prime Minister reshuffles his cabinet, potentially as early as next week, accoridng to the Daily Mail.
Mr Rees-Mogg – who has been dubbed “honourable member for the 18th century” – was only appointed as Commons leader in July after Mr Johnson succeeded Theresa May .
Since then he has been at the heart of a string of controversies, and Downing Street appears to have had enough.
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He was lampooned for slouching in the House of Commons during a debate on Brexit in September – with critics blasting the lack of respect he showed.
Mr Rees-Mogg was also forced to apologise to a respected neurologist for ill-thought out remarks in the Commons.
The Old Etonian also caused outrage when he compared Dr David Nicholl, who helped draw up the government’s No Deal Brexit plans, with disgraced anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield, who wrongly suggested there was a link between the MMR jab and autism.
England’s most senior doctor, Dame Sally Davies, branded the remark “disrespectful”, and Mr Rees-Mogg was again forced to apologise.
According to the Daily Mail, Mr Rees-Mogg could be sidelined as early as Monday.
He and trade secretary Liz Truss, as well as Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith are all tipped to be replaced.
The Mail suggests Penny Mordaunt, who was sacked by Mr Johnson as Defence Secretary, could be set for a return, and Treasury minister Rishi Sunak is likely to get a promotion.
Multi-millionaire Old Etonian Mr Rees-Mogg was practically invisible during the general election campaign following his Grenfell remarks.
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In an interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari before Thursday’s election, Mr Johnson refused to reveal whether he had spoken to Mr Rees-Mogg about the controversy.
On whether he would appoint Mr Rees-Mogg in his cabinet following the election, Mr Johnson said: “I’m not going to get into measuring the curtains-type conversations.”
Despite his record for attracting controversy, voters in Somerset stayed loyal to the Tory Brexiteer.
He beat Labour‘s Mark Huband by 14,729 votes, 4,494 more votes than the majority at the 2017 election.
