Jacob Rees-Mogg on how Remainers came 'perilously close' to wrecking Brexit
Jacob Rees-Mogg on how livid Remainers came 'perilously close' to wrecking Brexit
Exclusive: 'We stopped campaigning once we won, which was a mistake, and they started campaigning once they'd lost'
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Add us as preferred source Comments By David Williamson, Chief Political Commentator 07:00, Sat, Jun 20, 2026 Updated: 07:06, Sat, Jun 20, 2026 
A decade on from Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg believes Brexiteers made a key mistake. Champions of forging a new future for the country beyond the confines of Brussels were not prepared for the Remainer fightback which followed the referendum victory.
The country came “perilously close” to losing Brexit as leading figures from across the political establishment worked to ensure the UK stayed in the EU’s orbit, he argues. Speaking in his elegant London home just around the corner from Parliament, the father of six looks back at the years of tumult which brought normal politics to a standstill.
“I’ll tell you the one thing I got completely wrong, and that was that I thought that once the vote had happened the Remainers would accept the result,” he says. When he met Remain campaigners ahead of the June 23 referendum day “it was all very civil and very friendly”.
“They thought that we were amiable eccentrics and the country couldn't possibly listen to what we were saying,” he says. “They only met people of their own kind at their Islington dinner parties, or wherever they dine. They had no idea that out in the rest of the country there was this huge groundswell of opinion for Brexit.”
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But when the result came in he discovered supporters of EU membership were “furious”.
“So, oddly, we stopped campaigning once we won, which was a mistake, and they started campaigning once they'd lost,” he remembers. “And that begins to explain what happened in the following years and the rows about what Brexit actually meant.”
He was so worried that “Brexit could be lost” that he backed Theresa May’s exit deal on the third “meaningful vote”.
“I was worried that if she fell we could get a Remainer in charge and we would get a worse deal.”
As the Brexit wars continued, pressure for a second referendum intensified. But Boris Johnson’s 2019 election landslide success gave the Vote Leave campaigner a strong majority and the country exited the EU at 11pm on January 31, 2020. Whether Britain has become a better country since then is fiercely debated, but Sir Jacob is delighted that democratically politicians have new freedoms to craft laws.
Rachel Reeves and a host of Labour figures claim Brexit inflicted grave harm on the economy. Sir Jacob says the Chancellor has a “gigantic” beam in her eye. He accuses her of having “devastated economic growth” with the increases in National Insurance and Angela Rayner’s package of workers’ rights, and takes a shot at the Bank of England for its “utter failure” to “get monetary policy right”.
Labour, he adds, has made use of Britain’s restored sovereignty to pursue policies which have left him worse off.
“I'm not a socialist, as you may have noticed,” he says. “But Rachel Reeves' 20% VAT on school fees couldn't have been done if we hadn't left the European Union.”
Though he admits this is “particularly painful” for him as a father with six children in private education, he defends Labour’s right to hammer him in this way. “That is a Labour Government using a Brexit freedom to do something it believes to be important,” he says. “I think it's a nasty piece of class warfare, but they've got a majority, they’ve got a mandate to do this if they want.”
EXCLUSIVE: Jacob Rees-Mogg reflects on Brexit victory
Sir Jacob says he became a Brexiteer “later than you might think”. “When I was elected in 2010, I didn't think Brexit was on the cards,” he admits. “It didn't seem to be something that was likely to happen in the next 10 years.”
When David Cameron won a slender majority for the Conservatives in 2015, he pursued a new deal for the UK with the EU. But when he returned with a series of weak concessions on migrant benefits Sir Jacob knew “we could win Brexit because he hadn't achieved anything”.
He threw himself into the subsequent referendum campaign. The “further I went from London”, he remembers, “the more Brexiteer” the territory became. The contrast with the mood in the UK capital was sharp. "When I spoke in the City of London to compliance people, they all hated Brexit and thought I was bonkers. As soon as I got out and about, the mood for Brexit was so strong.”
The “big issue” that persuaded a majority of the electorate to back Brexit was “democracy rather than the economics”, he believes. And he singles out the contribution of two key personalities to getting the country over the line.
“I think that both Boris and Nigel Farage were essential,” he says, adding that Michael Gove “brought some serious intellectual heft”.
Mr Johnson “brought an enormous charisma and an appeal to people who wouldn't normally classify themselves as being on the Right. And Nigel brought the Red Wall, the Labour voters, the people who are a bit suspicious of the Tories.”
One of the great political upheavels in the wake of Brexit is the rise of Reform UK, which now tops the polls. Does he feel the Conservatives should have done more to mark Mr Farage’s contribution to securing Britain’s departure from the EU?
“Oh, he should definitely have been given a seat in the House of Lords,” Sir Jacob says. “He deserves one. I mean, I'd give him a dukedom if that's what he wanted.”
He attributes Reform’s rise to a failure of the two traditional parties of power to stand up for “left behind” Britons. As the 2029 election edges closer, he is convinced the British Right must not go into the contest split into different factions.
“I think it's absolutely essential that we come together,” he says. “I think both parties need each other. I think Reform needs the institutional knowledge of the Conservative Party of how government works… On the other hand, the Conservatives need to refresh themselves by showing that we are in touch with the issues that matter, which we weren't when we were last in government.”
He makes no secret of wanting to get back onto the green benches of the Commons. “Oh, I'd love to be involved,” he says. The 2029 election, he argues, could be as important as the 1979 contest which saw Margaret Thatcher come to power, and the “restoration of the country with an economic revolution” is needed.
Will we see Sir Jacob join Team Farage? It seems unlikely as he admits he is “wedded” to capital-C conservatism.
“I like Nigel,” he says. “I think very highly of him; I think he's a formidably capable politician. But I think Kemi is doing extremely well. I find that most of what she says I agree with.”
He chides defector Robert Jenrick for leaving the Tory tribe “without any good grace”, which he considered “a pity”. In contrast, he says: “I think the way Danny Kruger went was much more elegant and indicated a change of view, rather than thinking that all these people he'd worked with before were sons of Belial.”
In 40 years time, when the half century anniversary of Britain leaving the EU is marked, how does he hope his children will look back at what their dad helped achieve? He remarks that he hopes his offspring will be having “masses said for the repose of my soul” at this time. But he adds: “I think they will think it was absolutely extraordinary that anybody ever thought it was a good idea to be ruled by foreign countries.”
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
