William Rees-Mogg
Encyclopedia
William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg (born 14 July 1928 in Bristol
) is an English journalist and life peer
.
and Charterhouse School
in Godalming
, followed by Balliol College, Oxford
. He was President of the Oxford Union
in 1951.
in 1960, later becoming its Deputy Editor. Here he wrote an article which many believe convinced Alec Douglas-Home
to resign as Tory leader, making way for Edward Heath
, in July 1965.
He was Conservative
candidate for the safe Labour seat of Chester-le-Street
in a by-election
on 27 September 1956, losing to the Labour
candidate Norman Pentland
by 21,287 votes.
Rees-Mogg was editor of The Times
from 1967 to 1981, and still writes comment for that paper.
He has also been a member of the BBC
's Board of Governors
and chairman of the Arts Council
, overseeing a major reform of the latter body which halved the number of arts organisations receiving regular funding and reduced the Council's direct activities. Having been High Sheriff of Somerset
from 1978 to 1979, he was made a life peer
in 1988 as Baron Rees-Mogg of Hinton Blewett in the County of Avon, and sits in the House of Lords
as a cross-bencher
. He is currently a member of the European Reform Forum
.
Rees-Mogg is co-author, with James Dale Davidson
, of The Sovereign Individual, The Great Reckoning, and Blood in the Streets.
Rees-Mogg's stand on drugs led to his being satirised as "Mogadon Man" by Private Eye
, which also mocks the perceived inaccuracy of his economic and political predictions by referring to him as "Mystic Mogg", a parody on "Mystic Meg
", a tabloid astrologist.
Lord Rees-Mogg is Chairman of The Zurich Club, "a private, international network of trustworthy and knowledgeable investors and entrepreneurs", and is a regular contributor to a subscription investment advice newsletter, The Fleet Street Letter.
Writing in The Times in 2001, Lord Rees-Mogg, who has a house in Somerset, described himself as "a country person who spends most of his time in London", and attempted to define the characteristics of a "country person". He also wrote that Tony Blair was as unpopular in rural England as Mrs Thatcher had been in Scotland.
He is currently the Chairman of the London publishing firm Pickering & Chatto Publishers
and of NewsMax Media
and also writes a weekly column for The Mail on Sunday
.
(born 25 March 1979), stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Conservative Party in the 2005 general election
in Aberavon
, and in Somerton and Frome at the 2010 election. His son, Jacob Rees-Mogg
, stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Conservative Party in the 1997
and 2001
general elections (in Central Fife
and The Wrekin
respectively), but in 2010 was elected Conservative MP for the new constituency of North East Somerset
.
for the 2006 BBC
TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory!
.
Rees-Mogg, a Roman Catholic, has argued that the image of an ultra-conservative papacy is false and that the Vatican must overhaul its PR machine.
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
) is an English journalist and life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
.
Education
Rees-Mogg was educated at Clifton College Preparatory School in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
, followed by Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. He was President of the Oxford Union
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
in 1951.
Career
Rees-Mogg began his career in journalism in London at The Financial Times in 1952, before moving to The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
in 1960, later becoming its Deputy Editor. Here he wrote an article which many believe convinced Alec Douglas-Home
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
to resign as Tory leader, making way for Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, in July 1965.
He was Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate for the safe Labour seat of Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street (UK Parliament constituency)
Chester-le-Street was a county constituency centred on the town of Chester-le-Street in County Durham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
on 27 September 1956, losing to the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
candidate Norman Pentland
Norman Pentland
Norman Pentland was a British Labour Member of Parliament for Chester-le-Street. He won the constituency in a by-election in 1956, and served until his death at the age of 60 in 1972....
by 21,287 votes.
Rees-Mogg was editor of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
from 1967 to 1981, and still writes comment for that paper.
He has also been a member of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Board of Governors
Board of Governors of the BBC
The Board of Governors of the BBC was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It consisted of twelve people who together regulated the BBC and represented the interests of the public. It existed from 1927 until it was replaced by the BBC Trust on 1 January 2007.The governors...
and chairman of the Arts Council
Arts council
An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...
, overseeing a major reform of the latter body which halved the number of arts organisations receiving regular funding and reduced the Council's direct activities. Having been High Sheriff of Somerset
High Sheriff of Somerset
The Office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient High Sheriff title which has been in existence for over one thousand years. The position was once a powerful position responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing law and order in Somerset a county in South West England. In modern times the...
from 1978 to 1979, he was made a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in 1988 as Baron Rees-Mogg of Hinton Blewett in the County of Avon, and sits in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
as a cross-bencher
Cross-bencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and Australian Senate. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber; compare...
. He is currently a member of the European Reform Forum
European Reform Forum
The European Reform Forum is a committee of senior British politicians, journalists, academics, and businessmen who are seeking to produce a report on the future direction of the European Union. The members are drawn predominantly from a Conservative background. It was launched on 30 June 2005 in...
.
Rees-Mogg is co-author, with James Dale Davidson
James Dale Davidson
James Dale Davidson is an American investment newsletter writer and author of The Sovereign Individual, The Great Reckoning, and Blood in the Streets, all three co-authored with William Rees-Mogg. He also wrote The Plague of the Black Debt - How to Survive the Coming Depression. He is also the...
, of The Sovereign Individual, The Great Reckoning, and Blood in the Streets.
Rees-Mogg's stand on drugs led to his being satirised as "Mogadon Man" by Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
, which also mocks the perceived inaccuracy of his economic and political predictions by referring to him as "Mystic Mogg", a parody on "Mystic Meg
Mystic Meg
Mystic Meg is a British astrologer and alleged psychic who has regular astrology columns in The Sun and until its demise, the News of the World. She came to greater public notice when she hosted what became a regular item on the first broadcast of the National Lottery draw in 1994...
", a tabloid astrologist.
Lord Rees-Mogg is Chairman of The Zurich Club, "a private, international network of trustworthy and knowledgeable investors and entrepreneurs", and is a regular contributor to a subscription investment advice newsletter, The Fleet Street Letter.
Writing in The Times in 2001, Lord Rees-Mogg, who has a house in Somerset, described himself as "a country person who spends most of his time in London", and attempted to define the characteristics of a "country person". He also wrote that Tony Blair was as unpopular in rural England as Mrs Thatcher had been in Scotland.
He is currently the Chairman of the London publishing firm Pickering & Chatto Publishers
Pickering & Chatto Publishers
Pickering & Chatto is a UK based publishing house specialised in humanities and social sciences academic publication....
and of NewsMax Media
NewsMax Media
Newsmax Media is a conservative American news media organization founded by Christopher W. Ruddy and based in West Palm Beach, Florida. It operates the news website Newsmax.com and publishes Newsmax Magazine.Christopher W...
and also writes a weekly column for The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
.
Personal life
His youngest daughter, Annunziata Rees-MoggAnnunziata Rees-Mogg
Annunziata Mary Glanville née Rees-Mogg is an English freelance journalist, focusing on finance, economics, and European politics....
(born 25 March 1979), stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Conservative Party in the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
in Aberavon
Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)
Aberavon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returns one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system.-History:...
, and in Somerton and Frome at the 2010 election. His son, Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Hon. Jacob William Rees-Mogg is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for North East Somerset since the 2010 general election....
, stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Conservative Party in the 1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
and 2001
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
general elections (in Central Fife
Central Fife (UK Parliament constituency)
Central Fife was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from February 1974 until 2005, when it was largely replaced by the new Glenrothes constituency, with a small portion joining the expanded North East Fife.It elected one Member...
and The Wrekin
The Wrekin (UK Parliament constituency)
The Wrekin is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1918. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
respectively), but in 2010 was elected Conservative MP for the new constituency of North East Somerset
North East Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)
North East Somerset is a county constituency created by the Boundary Commission for England as the successor seat to the Wansdyke Parliamentary Seat. It came into being at the 2010 general election.- Boundaries :...
.
In the media
Rees-Mogg was interviewed about the rise of ThatcherismThatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
for the 2006 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory! is a 2006 BBC television documentary series on the history of the people and ideas that formed Thatcherism told through the eyes of those on the New Right.-Production:...
.
Rees-Mogg, a Roman Catholic, has argued that the image of an ultra-conservative papacy is false and that the Vatican must overhaul its PR machine.