I came across a clip in which former Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg deals very sensibly with the talking point that Nigel Farage’s Reform Party “stole” 4 million votes that would have otherwise gone to the Tories.
🗣️ ‘Reform did not take our votes. We have no right to those four million votes. We have to win people at every election and Reform is a powerful reality’
Sir @Jacob_Rees_Mogg explains why the Tories must take Nigel Farage and Reform seriously
🎧 Listen from 5pm:… pic.twitter.com/ZhjYswevXL
— The Daily T (@DailyTPodcast) October 1, 2024
I think Rees-Mogg, who has started a new Substack, is onto something that is going to be important for Republicans contemplating the future of their party. Donald Trump, like Farage, did not disappear in a puff of smoke. Rees-Mogg has always been an advocate of standing on the firmest conservative principles, without trimming them, and to rally people around your deepest convictions, rather than trying to outsmart voters or ourselves. He also, unlike many Republicans who have run into trouble in recent years, refuses to scold the voters or to insert discrediting sentiments into their hearts without evidence. There is a realist streak in his thinking. Conservatives everywhere could use more of his humility before their voters.