"I unequivocally support Theresa May, and do not covet her job," writes Jacob Rees-Mogg in The Daily Telegraph. "Second, if I did I would be a fool, for only in Opposition do political parties choose leaders who have never held high ministerial office."
He has "developed a cult following, with Tory activists deeming him to be the Conservative answer to Corbyn". But there's a practical problem: a Conservative leadership contest works against such "rogue candidates" because, unlike in the Labour party, a candidate has to get through several rounds of votes by MPs. God help us if he does somehow get through, however, says Matthew Parris in the Times. It would probably mean the end of the Conservative party.
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"While his manners are perfumed his opinions are poison. Rees-Mogg is quite simply an unfailing, unbending, unrelenting reactionary." Not only is he a "brute moral conservative", but he is a "straight-down-the-line supporter of every welfare cut I've checked". Unless Rees-Mogg and his coterie are confounded, we could see "the death of the broad-church Conservative Party" and "the formation of a new centre party".
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Jim O’Neill on nearly 25 years of the BRICSJim O’Neill, who coined the acronym BRICS in 2001, tells MoneyWeek how the group is progressing
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Build or innovate? How to solve the productivity puzzleOpinion There are two main schools of thought when it comes to solving the productivity puzzle, says David C. Stevenson
