Top Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg admits strange way he chatted up his aristocratic wife

23 February 2023 , 22:30

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Top Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg admits strange way he chatted up his aristocratic wife

Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg has revealed he chatted up his aristocratic wife by impressing her with his knowledge of her famous ancestor.

The prominent right-winger said he took an unusual approach to courtship by banging on about 17th Century politician Thomas Wentworth, a distant relative of his now wife.

In the interview with GB News, Mr Rees-Mogg insisted that his bizarre old-fashioned public image was no different to who he is in private.

The upper-crust Tory said: "Would anybody have adopted my image out of a creation, a confection? I think that's very unlikely, so I'd better be what I really am.

"I'm not much different in private from the public view."

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Former Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg

The North Somerset MP was introduced to his wife Helena - with whom he has six kids - by his sister Annunziata, a former Brexit Party MEP.

He said: "We started talking and I'm afraid I mainly talked about [her] ancestor Thomas Wentworth and [she] thought, ‘who's this rather odd fellow who knows more about my family history than I do?’’

He said he was a "complete pushover" with his six kids, who include the eccentrically named Sixtus, Wulfric, Anselm and Alphege.

Mr Rees-Mogg still employs the same nanny who raised him - who he once took on the campaign trail with him.

"My children have me wrapped around their little finger," he said. "I give into them the whole time. I give in straight away before being asked really. I'm a complete pushover."

Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg gave the interview in his plush London home

The 53-year-old, who is known for his fogeyish ways, admitted that he has a wardrobe stuffed full of double-breasted suits and wouldn't know how to wear jeans.

"I've got a dark blue one and dark grey one [suit]. And one time it's one, and one time it’s the other," he said.

"What would I do with a pair of jeans?"

A tour of his plush London home also revealed walls covered with oil paintings, an unauthorised biography of David Cameron on his shelves and a monogrammed handkerchief of King Charles I, apparently stained with blood from the execution.

Lizzy Buchan