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Annunziata Rees-Mogg

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The Honourable
Annunziata Rees-Mogg
Member of the European Parliament
for East Midlands
In office
2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byMargot Parker
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1979-03-25) 25 March 1979 (age 45)
Bath, Somerset, England
Political partyConservative (1984–2019;[1] 2020–present)[2]
Other political
affiliations		Independent (2019–2020)[3]
Brexit (2019)
Spouse
Matthew Glanville
​
(m. 2010)​
Children3
Parent(s)William Rees-Mogg
Gillian Morris
RelativesJacob Rees-Mogg (brother)
EducationGodolphin and Latymer School
OccupationPolitician, journalist

Annunziata Mary Rees-Mogg (/əˌnʊntsiˈɑːtə/; born 25 March 1979) is a British freelance journalist whose focus is finance, economics, and European politics. She was a Brexit Party, then Conservative politician, during 2019 and into early 2020. Rees-Mogg has been a leader writer for The Daily Telegraph, deputy editor of MoneyWeek, and editor of the European Journal, a Eurosceptic magazine owned by Bill Cash's think tank, the European Foundation.

Formerly active in Conservative Party politics, Rees-Mogg was added to the party's A-List by David Cameron.[4] She stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative parliamentary candidate in the 2005 and 2010 general elections.[5][6] On 12 April 2019, Rees-Mogg was selected as a candidate for the Brexit Party in the East Midlands constituency in the European Parliament elections[7] and won a seat.[8] She resigned the party whip in December 2019 to support the Conservative Party's Brexit strategy.[9] She rejoined the Conservative Party in January 2020.[10]

Early life and education

[edit]

Annunziata Mary Rees-Mogg is one of the daughters of William Rees-Mogg, a former editor of The Times, and his wife Gillian Shakespeare Morris; she is the youngest sister of Jacob Rees-Mogg.

She joined the Conservative Party at the age of five.[11] She later said of this "I was too young to be a Young Conservative, so I joined the main party. Aged eight I was out canvassing, proudly wearing my rosette."[4]

She was educated at Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith, West London, an independent day school for girls. There, she took A Levels in History, Chemistry and Economics, which she has called "a very odd mix".[12]

Career

[edit]

After leaving school in 1997, she decided against going to university, and instead tried a series of different jobs in journalism, investment banking, publishing, public relations, and stockbroking.[11][4] In 1998, she moved with her family to Mells, Somerset.

In 2003 she set up Trust the People, a campaign for a referendum on the European Constitution aimed at those too young to have voted in the Common Market referendum of 1975.[4] Speaking about the 2003 Iraq War, she subsequently said, "I think it was a terrible mistake".[4] She opposed the Hunting Act 2004, which outlawed hunting of wild mammals with dogs.[13]

In the 2005 general election Rees-Mogg came fourth in the safe Labour seat of Aberavon, South Wales,[5] increasing the Conservative vote from 2,096 to 3,064.[5][12][14]

She was selected as prospective parliamentary candidate for Somerton and Frome in 2006.[11] The Observer said of her, "Having enjoyed finance and journalism, she combined the two in a career as a financial journalist. When she turns to discussing Gordon Brown's economic record, she does so with authority."[15] In November 2007, she wrote an article for MoneyWeek magazine entitled "How to profit from the world's water crisis", setting out some of the investment opportunities in the sector.[16] An article in The Sunday Telegraph in October 2009 reported, "Some high-profile women are already installed in winnable seats: Louise Bagshawe [now Mensch], Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel, Laura Sandys and Joanne Cash will all make colourful additions to the Tory benches."[17] However, at the 2010 general election, Rees-Mogg failed to take the Somerton and Frome seat from the sitting Liberal Democrat member David Heath.[6]

It was reported that in advance of the 2010 election David Cameron had asked Rees-Mogg to shorten her name for political purposes to Nancy Mogg, which her brother Jacob has since said was "a joke".[18][19] Rees-Mogg later commented: "I think it's phoney to pretend to be someone you're not."[13] Cameron subsequently dropped her from the Conservative Party's 2011 pre-selections, despite strong support from many female party members.[20]

Having been elected as a MEP for the Brexit Party at the 2019 European Parliamentary elections and serving for seven months, Rees Mogg defected very prominently back to her former party, the Conservatives. She defected just one week prior to the UK 2019 General Election, urging voters to vote Conservative.[21] Rees-Mogg sat as an independent in the European Parliament for a month and became a Conservative MEP in January 2020, just three weeks before the UK left the EU and the UK MEP positions were abolished.[22][23][24]

During 2019, before her tactically timed defection away from the party, Rees-Mogg had been a high-profile Brexit Party backer and advocate.[25][26][27][28][29][30] The Brexit Party has since become the political party Reform UK.

Rees-Mogg was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region from May 2019 until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020.

Personal life

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In September 2010, Rees-Mogg became engaged to Matthew Glanville[31] and on 6 November 2010, they were married in Lucca, Italy.[32] Four months later, on 8 March 2011, she gave birth to a daughter.[33] In 2018, she gave birth to a second daughter. In late 2019, she announced she was expecting a third child.[34]

References

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  1. ^ Halliday, Josh; Walker, Peter (12 April 2019). "Annunziata Rees-Mogg to stand as MEP for Farage's Brexit party". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2020. I joined the Conservative party in 1984 and this is not a decision I have made lightly
  2. ^ "Jacob Rees-Mogg's sister leads ex-Brexit Party MEPs in joining the Tories". BT. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "General election: Three Brexit Party MEPs quit to back Conservatives". Sky News. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e Eyre, Hermione, "New Model Tories: The Cameroons are coming", The Independent, 24 September 2006.
  5. ^ a b c UK General Election results May 2005 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, politicsresources.net.
  6. ^ a b GENERAL ELECTION 2010: LibDems hold Somerton and Frome, dated 7 May 2010 at chardandilminsternews.co.uk
  7. ^ "Nigel Farage launches Brexit Party". BBC News. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Annunziata Rees-Mogg says brother Jacob will be 'devastated' after Tory losses". ITV News. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Three MEPs quit Brexit Party to back PM's EU deal". BBC News. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Jacob Rees-Mogg's sister leads ex-Brexit Party MEPs in joining the Tories". BT.com. Retrieved 9 January 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ a b c Guy Adams "Rees-Mogg: First family of fogeys", The Independent, 19 October 2006."
  12. ^ a b John Baxter, Profile of Annunziata Rees Mogg, wincantonwindow.co.uk, 9 March 2010.
  13. ^ a b Gimson, Andrew (22 April 2010). "General Election 2010: Annunziata Rees-Mogg is proud to be true blue". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010.
  14. ^ www.politicsresources.net Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Aberavon.
  15. ^ Oliver Marre, I'm not sure I want to look like her but I admire Ann Widdecombe's ability to stick to her beliefs, The Observer, 12 July 2009
  16. ^ "How to profit from the world's water crisis". MoneyWeek. 5 November 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  17. ^ Kite, Melissa. "The softly, softly fight for the women's vote at the general election", The Sunday Telegraph, 25 October 2009
  18. ^ Andrew Neil. "Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain." BBC Two. 19 February 2011. Clip available online.
  19. ^ Peter Wilson, Cameron's Britain is suspicious of the Conservative it may elect, in The Australian dated 13 March 2010
  20. ^ "Brexit campaign leader Nigel Farage creates new party to contest European Union election". ABC News. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  21. ^ "East Midlands MEP Annunziata Rees-Mogg leaves Brexit Party". 5 December 2019.
  22. ^ "General election: Three Brexit Party MEPs Quit to Back Conservatives". The Guardian. 5 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Annunziata Rees-Mogg and two other Brexit Party MEPs stand down to support Tories". Bristol Post. 5 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Four Brexit Party rebels to join Tories as MEPs in time for crucial EU vote on deal". Daily Express. 8 January 2019.
  25. ^ "Leading Brexit party candidate vows not to 'stymie' EU if elected". Politico Europe. 9 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Annunziata Rees-Mogg hits out at 'broken' political system". Enfield Independent. 20 April 2019.
  27. ^ "Annunziata Rees-Mogg stands for Farage's Brexit party". The Spectator. 12 April 2019.
  28. ^ "Jacob's sister Annunziata Rees-Mogg campaigns for Brexit Party in Stamford". Rutland and Stamford Mercury. 7 May 2019.
  29. ^ "Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Jacob Rees-Mogg's Sister, Unveiled As Brexit Party Candidate". HuffPost. 12 April 2019.
  30. ^ "Annunziata Rees-Mogg interview: I'm from the more common wing of the Rees-Mogg family". The Times. 10 November 2019.
  31. ^ Annunziata Rees-Mogg agrees to change name at last 8 September 2010, online at thisissomerset.co.uk [dead link‍]
  32. ^ Matthew Glanville & Annunziata Rees-Mogg at legacy.com/timesonline-uk, dated 12/11/2010, accessed 16 January 2011
  33. ^ "Births". The Times. 10 March 2011. p. 55.
  34. ^ McAllister, Richard (22 September 2019). "Annunziata Rees-Mogg announces pregnancy months after tragic miscarriage". lincolnshirelive. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
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