Jacob Rees-Mogg’s entry into Westminster politics was, much like his departure in the early hours of Friday, typically eye-catching. Aged 27, the Old Etonian investment banker fought his first election as a rookie Conservative candidate in 1997 in a hardscrabble Scottish constituency, famously accompanied by his nanny and a posh car. One of those who stood against Rees-Mogg some three decades ago as he fought an unwinnable campaign in blue collar Central Fife recalled this week feeling an amount of sympathy for the callow Tory, if nothing else for the sheer chutzpah of standing in a former coal mining area where anger at the devastation of the Thatcher era remained raw.
Tricia Marwick, the SNP candidate standing in the then robustly Labour seat, told how after Rees-Mogg had been booed by some at a hustings in the coastal town of Methil she stood up to tell the audience that whatever they thought of the plummy-voiced Englishman with owlish spectacles and an air of privilege, he had a right to be heard. Mrs Marwick, who went on to become the presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, told i : “This was a seat where at the time it was absolutely true to say that, at least in one half of the constituency, they could weigh the Labour vote rather than count it. The Conservatives in Scotland had clearly been unable to find anyone to stand and this rather strange individual appeared out of nowhere to have a go, knowing hardly anybody would vote for him.
“After he was booed, .
