Remainer party believes it can take North East Somerset from the ex-ERG leader

Mr Rees-Mogg has held the seat ever since it was created at the 2010 election

But Lib Dems are encouraged by successes in local and Euro elections this year

Bath and NE Somerset voted 57-43 for Remain in the 2016 referendum

The Liberal Democrats are mounting an audacious bid to kick arch Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg out of his seat at the next election, Mail Online can reveal today.

Jo Swinson's hardline Remainer party is targeting the aristocratic former head of the European Research Group (ERG), believing there is an up-swell of pro-EU sentiment in his North East Somerset seat.

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However, they face an uphill task to overturn his 10,023 majority from 2017 in a constituency where they finished a distant third, with fewer than half the number of votes the party achieved in 2010.

The Stop Mogg campaign is part of a so-called 'big beasts' strategy targeting hardcore Brexiteers at the next election.

The party is crowdfunding for a local campaign to help them unseat Mr Rees-Mogg, who was made Commons Leader by Boris Johnson in July.

It has already raised more than £11,000 towards a £15,000 target.

A Lib Dem source said: 'This fighting fund raised from small donations will give the Liberal Democrats a head start in the campaign to oust Jacob Rees-Mogg, building on recent success at the local and European elections.'

Mr Rees-Mogg (far right at the State Opening of Parliament on Monday) has a majority of 10,023 in a seat where the Lib Dems finished a distant third in 2017

The campaign to unseat Jacob Rees-Mogg uses an image of him reclining on the Commons benches last month

Nick Coates (far left), the Lib Dem who will take on Mr Rees-Mogg, said: 'North East Somerset has an opportunity to demand change'

Under Ms Swinson the Lib Dems have become an overtly Remain party.

It will campaign to revoke Article 50 and stop Brexit at the next election, arguing that if it won it would be a mandate from the people.

It would also back Remain if there was a second referendum before an election.

It's understood the Lib Dems have been encouraged by recent election results in the South West.

It already holds neighbouring Bath, where Vera Hobhouse has a 5,694 majority and believes it can win votes from the commuter community leaving in small towns and villages outside the spa city.

The Bath and North East Somerset (Banes) council area voted 57-43 in favour of Remain at the 2016 referendum,

But more recently at local elections in May, which were a disaster for the Tories, they took control of the council, winning 37 of 59 seats and overturning a Conservative majority of seven.

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Comedian and doctor Phil Hammond is also standing against Jacob Rees-Mogg, for the National Health Action Party

The Tory losses included council leader Tim Warren, who was unseated by the Lib Dems' David Wood after 16 years representing the ward where Mr Rees-Mogg himself lives.

They also picked up two European Parliament seats in May's EU election, although the other three seats for the South West were won by the Brexit Party.

However the Lib Dems have had a historic problem of failing to turn excellent local election results into MPs at the national level.

The blurb for the Stop Mogg campaign accuses the father-of-six of showing 'arrogant contempt for those who live outside his privileged bubble'.

'He seems to have no idea how normal people live and that many have to struggle to survive, and yet he voted for benefit cuts at every opportunity,' it notes.

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'He can be beaten at the General Election. A few months ago the Lib Dems won the Council and European elections in his NE Somerset constituency and Rees-Mogg himself now has a Lib Dem councillor.'

Nick Coates, the Lib Dem who will take on Mr Rees-Mogg, said: 'For too long the country has stalled on every major issue, from adult social care to addressing the climate emergency.

'Sadly, Jacob Rees-Mogg doesn't seem to realise there is more to politics than Brexit and foxhunting.

'North East Somerset has an opportunity to demand change. Instead of pitting people against Parliament, which is incendiary language, as a Liberal Democrat MP I will campaign to stop Brexit and make sure every voice in North East Somerset is heard.'

In order to overturn Mr Rees-Mogg's majority, Mr Coates will have to make major inroads into Labour's 18,757 votes at the last election.

They will be banking on 2017 voters abandoning Jeremy Corbyn's party due to its continued attempt to appeal to both Leave and Remain voters, refusing to make a decision on which way to go until after the election.

In addition, comedian and doctor Phil Hammond is also planning to stand against Mr Rees-Mogg for the National Health Action Party.

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Mr Rees-Mogg declined to comment on the Lib Dem's election campaign.