IT’S “inconceivable” that Penny Mordaunt will become Tory leader ahead of a general election, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said today.
The ex-cabinet minister blasted backbench plotters for trying to oust Rishi Sunak and replace him with the Commons Leader.
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Sir Jacob told Times Radio: “It doesn’t really matter whether she wants it or not.
“Penny Mordaunt is not going to become the leader of the Conservative Party with a coronation.
“That idea is inconceivable.”
It comes as Ms Mordaunt told pals yesterday that publicly slapping down a plot to install her as PM would only add fuel to the fire.
The Commons Leader has been silent for six days since The Sun first revealed handfuls of MPs want to install her in No10 in a last ditch bid to avoid an election wipe out.
A source close to her insisted: “Everyone knows it’s nonsense and that people unfriendly to Penny like to stir up trouble.”
Allies suggested she is not keen to “add legitimacy” to the plotting with a public statement and will attempt to sit out the current wave of leadership chatter.
Polling guru Sir John Curtice today insisted it would be “very, very difficult” for Ms Mordaunt to turn around opinion polls if she became Tory leader.
And he claimed the public don’t even really know he she is.
Sir John said: “Nothing is impossible in politics.
“But certainly anybody who fancies going for the job, if Mr. Sunak is brought down, would certainly need to be aware that they could end up being an extremely short prime minister indeed.”
The pollster added that the legacy of the PM’s predecessor Liz Truss is still casting shadow over the Conservatives in the public’s mind.
He said: “The other problem the government has, which is more difficult for it to overcome, is that once we start arguing about the state of the economy and what’s going to happen, all the opposition have to do is to say Liz Truss, and they’re able to pin the blame in the eyes of many voters on the government.
“So even if the economy improves, whether or not the government can persuade people, it should be given the credit for the economy is another matter, so economy is number one.”
Sir Jacob argued that dire polling for the Tories isn’t the fault of the PM.
“The Conservative Party’s popularity fell before Rishi Sunak did, so I wouldn’t hold him personally responsible,” he said.
“I think we’ve been in office for a long time, and I think that the changes of leadership didn’t help.
“I was not in favour of removing Boris Johnson, as you may remember, but that has happened and parties need to deal with the current situation, not what might have been.”
