Jacob Rees-Mogg blames Tory wipeout on 'cabal' who ousted Boris Johnson

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has blamed the "cabal" who ousted Boris Johnson for the Tories' election wipeout.

The former business secretary called it a "terrible" night for Rishi Sunak's party which looks on track to get just 131 seats in the House of Commons.

He said: "It's clearly a terrible night for the Conservatives. There is no way of describing this other than a bad night for the Conservative Party."

When asked where it went wrong, he said: "I think that there were issues changing the leader but I think we do have increasingly a presidential system and that people vote for a Prime Minister rather than for an individual member of Parliament."

He added: "Voters expect the Prime Minister they have chosen to remain the Prime Minister and for it to be the voters who decide when that person is changed, rather than it being done by a small cabal.

"I think the Conservative Party took its core vote for granted which is why you see so many people who may have voted for Conservative previously going off to Reform."

When asked if the original sin was "getting rid" of Boris Johnson, Sir Jacob said: "Original sin is a very interesting theological question which I'd be happy to discuss on another occasion."

"I think people do vote for a leader and that new leaders actually need an election pretty quickly. The mandate is increasingly personal and this does look as if it's a very strong mandate for Sir Keir Starmr and if that's the case, I wish him well in that because we want good government for this country - whoever is in high office at any individual time."

In 2019, Mr Johnson led the Conservatives to their biggest election victory since 1987.

He left the job of prime minister in 2022, following a mass revolt by ministers over his leadership, sparked by scandals including Partygate.

Sir Jacob said it would be "interesting" to see whether Nigel Farage can achieve "a realignment of the right in British politics".

Asked whether he thought the Tories should have sought to join forces with Mr Farage, the former Conservative minister said: "We are where we are and the disaster doesn't seem to have been averted.

"You'll have to ask Nigel what his plans are. I think he looks for and seeks a realignment of the right in British politics, and it will be interesting to see whether he can achieve that."