Annunziata Mary Rees-Mogg (; born 25 March 1979) is a freelance

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

whose focus is

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, and

European politics The politics of Europe deals with the continually evolving politics within the continent of Europe. It is a topic far more detailed than other continents due to a number of factors including the long history of nation states in the region as ...

and has been a British

Brexit Party Reform UK is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was bri ...

then

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician during 2019 and into early 2020. She has been a

leader writer A leader writer is a senior journalist in a British newspaper who is charged with writing the paper's editorial either in the absence of the editor or in cases where the editor chooses not to write editorials because their editorial skills may res ...

for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', deputy editor of ''

MoneyWeek ''MoneyWeek'' is a British weekly investment magazine that covers financial and economic news and provides commentary and analysis across the UK and global markets. ''MoneyWeek'' is edited in London. It is owned by MoneyWeek Limited, which is no ...

'', and editor of the European Journal, a

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

magazine owned by

Bill Cash Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1984. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in 1997. ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

, the European Foundation. Formerly active in

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politics, she was added to the Conservative Party's

A-List An A-list actor is a major movie star, or one of the most bankable actors in a film industry. The A-list is part of a larger guide called ''The Hot List'', which ranks the bankability of 1,400 movie actors worldwide, and has become an industry ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. She was unsuccessful in her attempts as a Conservative parliamentary candidate in the 2005 and 2010 general elections.''UK General Election results May 2005''
, politicsresources.net. On 12 April 2019, she was selected as a candidate for the

in the East Midlands constituency in the

European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Unti ...

, and she won a seat. She resigned the party whip in December 2019 to support the Conservative Party's Brexit strategy. She later rejoined the Conservative Party in January 2020.

Early life and education

Annunziata Mary Rees-Mogg is one of the daughters of William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg, a former editor of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', and his wife Gillian Shakespeare Morris; she is the youngest sister of

Jacob Rees-Mogg Jacob William Rees-Mogg (born 24 May 1969) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset since 2010. Now a backbencher, he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council ...

. She joined the Conservative Party at the age of five. She later said of this "I was too young to be a Young Conservative, so I joined the main party. Aged eight I was out

canvassing Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership driv ...

, proudly wearing my rosette."Eyre, Hermione
"New Model Tories: The Cameroons are coming"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 24 September 2006. She was educated at

Godolphin and Latymer School The Godolphin and Latymer School is an independent day school for girls in Hammersmith, West London. The school motto is an ancient Cornish phrase, ''Francha Leale Toge'', which translates as "free and loyal art thou". The school crest inclu ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, West London, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

day school for girls. There, she took

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, which she has called "a very odd mix".John Baxter
Profile of Annunziata Rees Mogg
wincantonwindow.co.uk, 9 March 2010.

Career

After leaving school in 1997, she decided against going to a university, and instead tried a series of different jobs, in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

investment banking Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

, and

stockbroking A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

.Guy Adam
"Rees-Mogg: First family of fogeys"
''The Independent'', 19 October 2006." In 1998, she moved with her family to

Mells, Somerset Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome. Vobster The parish includes the village of Vobster, which had a coal mine of the same name on the Somerset coalfield and a quarry, both of which are now disused. ...

. In 2003 she set up Trust the People, a campaign for a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the

European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...

aimed at those too young to have voted in the Common Market referendum of 1975. Speaking about the 2003

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, she subsequently said, "I think it was a terrible mistake". She opposed the

Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...

, which outlawed hunting of wild mammals with dogs. In the 2005 general election Rees-Mogg came fourth in the safe Labour seat of

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, increasing the Conservative vote from 2,096 to 3,064. She was selected as prospective parliamentary candidate for Somerton and Frome in 2006. ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' said of her, "Having enjoyed finance and journalism, she combined the two in a career as a financial journalist. When she turns to discussing

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

's economic record, she does so with authority." In November 2007, she wrote an article for ''

'' magazine entitled "How to profit from the world's water crisis", setting out some of the investment opportunities in the sector. An article in ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'' in October 2009 reported, "Some high-profile women are already installed in winnable seats: Louise Bagshawe ow Mensch Annunziata Rees-Mogg,

Priti Patel Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has been the Me ...

Laura Sandys Laura Jane Sandys (; born 5 June 1964) is a former chair of the European Movement UK, and a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet between 2010 and 2015 when she stood down at the ...

and

Joanne Cash Joanne Cash (born 28 December 1969) is a media barrister. She was the unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate for Westminster North in the 2010 general election. Early life and education Cash was born in Northern Ireland. Her mother was a ...

will all make colourful additions to the Tory benches." However, at the 2010 general election, Rees-Mogg failed to take the Somerton and Frome seat from the sitting

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

member David Heath.GENERAL ELECTION 2010: LibDems hold Somerton and Frome
dated 7 May 2010 at chardandilminsternews.co.uk It was reported that in advance of the 2010 election

had asked Rees-Mogg to shorten her name for political purposes to Nancy Mogg, which her brother Jacob has since said was "a joke". Rees-Mogg later commented: "I think it's phoney to pretend to be someone you're not." Cameron subsequently dropped her from the Conservative Party's 2011 pre-selections, despite strong support from many female party members. Having been elected as a MEP for the

at the 2019 European Parliamentary elections and serving for seven months, Rees Mogg defected very prominently back to her former party of membership,

. The defection began through leaving the Brexit Party over a month before the UK left the EU and one week prior to a UK

General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

which was critical for the Brexit Party, and by at the same time urging voters to vote Conservative. Rees-Mogg sat as an

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

for a month, to become a Conservative MEP in January 2020, just three weeks before the UK left the EU and all MEP positions were abolished. During 2019 and until her tactically timed defection away from the party, Mogg had been a high-profile Brexit Party backer and advocate. (The Brexit Party has since become the political party

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant po ...

). Rees-Mogg served as an

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for the East Midlands region from May 2019 until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020.

Personal life

In September 2010, Rees-Mogg became engaged to Matthew Glanville, and on 6 November 2010 they were married in Italy at

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

. Four months later, on 8 March 2011, she gave birth to a daughter, Isadora, who was christened in St Martin's Church,

Welton le Marsh Welton le Marsh (or Welton in the Marsh) is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately north-east from the town of Spilsby and approximately south from the town of Alford. T ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. In 2018 she gave birth to a second daughter, Molly. In late 2019, she announced she was expecting a third child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees-Mogg, Annunziata 1979 births Living people English people of American descent English people of Irish descent Annunziata English newspaper editors English Roman Catholics Daughters of life peers People educated at Godolphin and Latymer School People from Mendip District Conservative Party (UK) politicians Women newspaper editors Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Brexit Party MEPs People from Bath, Somerset People from Somerset MEPs for England 2019–2020 21st-century women MEPs for England Independent politicians in England Conservative Party (UK) MEPs