Why Rees-Mogg's resignation shouldn't be a surprise

It has been confirmed that Jacob Rees-Mogg has resigned from the cabinet following the confirmation that Rishi Sunak is now the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

The Tory MP was serving as the Business Secretary under Liz Truss's short-lived government having previously held the position of Leader of the House of Commons and the minister for Brexit opportunities under Boris Johnson.

A source close to Jacob Rees-Mogg told the PA news agency: “He knows he was very close to the previous two regimes and it didn’t seem likely he was going to be appointed in the new Cabinet.

“He’s happy to support the Prime Minister from the backbenches.”

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

This perhaps shouldn't be a surprise as during the summer's leadership contest, Rees-Mogg had a few choice words for Sunak.

Speaking to Sky News in July he would refuse a position in a Sunak cabinet, citing his "disloyalty".

He said: "I believe his behaviour towards Boris Johnson, his disloyalty means that I could not possibly support him and he wouldn't want me in his cabinet anyway."

"I couldn't support somebody who has been so disloyal to the current leader of the party from inside cabinet," he continued.

"If you are bound by collective responsibility you should stick to that whilst you are in the cabinet," he added - forgetting Sunak resigned before launching his leadership ambitions.

Elsewhere, Brandon Lewis has said he is out as Justice Secretary as he vowed to support Rishi Sunak from the backbenches.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.