#moggmentum: the unlikely movement to make Jacob Rees-Mogg Prime Minister If you were going to guess which politician would spark a grassroots social media movement, you probably wouldn’t land on Jacob […]

If you were going to guess which politician would spark a grassroots social media movement, you probably wouldn’t land on Jacob Rees-Mogg, a deeply traditional Conservative who looks and acs like a character from a period drama and thinks guitars should be banned from mass.

But then you wouldn’t have guessed a 68-year-old anti-war campaigner would be Glastonbury’s biggest draw either. Things are strange in British politics these days.

The meme movement behind Rees-Mogg is picking up steam, with a variety of Facebook pages devoted to pumping out shareable images designed to engage the youth in Mogg-related issues.

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“There aren’t any other politicians like him,” says Rob, the admin of Can’t Clog the Mogg.

“He is a walking anachronism. And somehow it it is charming.”

The memes on his page often focus on the plight of young Conservatives trying to fit in but struggling with political assumptions they simply don’t believe. Rees-Mogg’s unfailing manners despite sticking out like a sore thumb, in other words, is part of the reason he is so surprisingly popular.

“I think it speaks to his good humour, and to the fact most young Tories are the only non-left wing people in their peer group,” Rob says.

For Rob, the whole thing is just funny. “I have hopes for him only in the sense that it would be great meme material,” he says.

Nanny state Once got his nanny to shield his neck from the sun with a book while watching a concert at Glyndebourne. Also brought his nanny campaigning with him in 1997, while a grown man.

That’s not a position shared by everyone in the Mogg movement (hashtags #Moggmentum #Ready4Mogg #Mogg4PM). For some, tired of Cameron’s modernisation and May’s apparent incompetence, Rees-Mogg is a genuine beacon of hope.

“The irony card has been played by anti-British leftists and establishment Labour-lite Tories,” the admin of a Moggmentum Twitter page told i.

“Of course we are not ironic. We are a grassroots movement that’s gaining pace daily.”

For Sam, who oversees the Ready For Rees-Mogg campaign, the memes are fun, but they are a means to an end.

“Politics is often a very serious business, so these pages play an important part in activating people, then we turn them into people who want to support Jacob for leader,” he says.

It appears to be working. In alliance with other pages including the spectacularly named Middle Class Memes for Rees-Moggian Teens, Ready for Rees-Mogg has helped collect 10,000 signatures for a petition to show support for a leadership challenge.

The parallels with the shift to authenticity and grassroots control of the Labour Party are clear.

Floccin hell Holder of the record for the longest word in Hansard, the record of parliamentary proceedings for “floccinaucinihilipilification”. The word means “the habit of considering something worthless”.

“He’s the Conservatives’ answer to Corbyn,” Sam says.

“He has the ability to activate young people in politics. The core of our support are younger people who usually aren’t that interested in politics.

“There are too many bland politicians who do whatever their party says. Jacob is willing to go against his party if he believes it to be in the national interest.

“He also has a set of beliefs, unlike May who gave us nothing apart from ‘strong and stable’.

“On top of that he’s a great orator, and has the ability to explain the most complex of issues.”

Rees-Mogg is someone who can be trusted on the issues, to his supporters.

“The Conservative Party isn’t really ‘conservative’ anymore,” Sam says. “He would definitely change that.”

Moggsters (yes, Moggsters) who spoke to i about their support waxed lyrical about his credentials.

“He has personal charm, and his charisma would resonate with voters, similar to what we saw with Tony Blair,” one said.

“Importantly his views on Brexit are that of the 52% and we believe that a strong Leaver is right for the job.”

Robin Percy said: “I realise that there are many ‘Corbynistas’ who regard JRM as strictly Tory and old-fashioned, but the reality is that he is a very genuine person. There are a growing number of the general populace rallying around him.”

As for whether Rees- Mogg himself is on board, it’s difficult to tell. He has recently started an Instagram account and immediately mastered the format:

Is this a sign that he’s about to make himself a dark horse, grassroots contender for the Conservative leadership, as Jeremy Corbyn did in Labour?

The talk up to now has been that Rees-Mogg could step into John Bercow’s shoes as speaker, perhaps bringing some old-world decorum to an office that now apparently allows people to speak without wearing ties, to the horror of some MPs.

“The problem is, if I became Speaker,” Rees-Mogg told Sky News, “I couldn’t come on programmes like this and discuss the political controversies of the day.”

That’s how the public knows him, first as a curio, then as a meme, and now, soon, as a household name.

According to an (unscientific) poll he posted on his own Instagram, he’s a more popular choice than many of the more prominent figures in the Conservative Party.

He might be an Old Etonian, a former hedge fund manager, a traditional Catholic, a small state Tory and the most visibly posh man in Parliament for a generation.

But he doesn’t try to spin it. And that’s worth something, to a lot of people.