'He's EXTREMELY talented!' Liam Fox would LOVE to see Jacob Rees-Mogg in May's Government
INTERNATIONAL Trade Secretary Liam Fox insisted Brexit-backing MP Jacob Rees-Mogg is “extremely talented” but said he would be unlikely to become the next Prime Minister.
Liam Fox: I'd love to see Jacob Rees-Mogg in May's Government
Jacob Rees-Mogg was revealed as the bookies' favourite to be the Conservative Party’s next leader. But Liam Fox said he can’t recall a time in recent years where a favourite ended up becoming the party leader.
Speaking to Berkeley Squares, Dr Fox said: “In 25 years in the House of Commons, sooner or later most of my colleagues get picked at one time or another as a future or potential leader.
“Jacob is a very good friend of mine and he’s extremely talented and I’d love to see him play a full role in the Government of the country.”
But Dr Fox said party leadership contests often entail unexpected results. He said: “It’s a bit of a roulette game and everyone accepts that. I think making predictions in politics, in general, is fairly tough.
Liam Fox said he would love to see Mr Rees-Mogg in May's Government
He’s extremely talented and I’d love to see him play a full role in the Government of the country
“Predicting the next leader of the Conservative Party has historically shown itself to be a monumentally difficult task.”
Mr Rees-Mogg popularity has grown in recent months as he appears an increasingly desired candidate to lead the Conservative party.
Despite being only a backbencher MP the since 2010, bookies such as Betfair and PaddyPower are offering odds of just 4/1 for Mr Rees-Mogg to become the next leader of the Conservatives.
Mr Rees-Mogg is ahead of Brexit Secretary David Davis who is out at 5/1.
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Coral, BoyleSports, Ladbrokes and William Hill all have Mr Rees-Mogg as the favourite to replace Mrs May at 5/1.
SkyBet and BetVictor put his chances at 6/1, joint favourite with Mr Davis.
He has become increasingly outspoken and recently accused Philip Hammond’s Treasury of “false assumptions” about the negative consequences of Brexit.
He said: “The window of post-Brexit freedom will remain firmly shut to those forecasters who subscribe to the modelling approach adopted by HM Treasury, which has a neo-protectionist approach and an inbuilt bias towards a pessimistic assessment of Brexit.”