Jacob Rees-Mogg: 'PM's Brexit deal will suffer another record-breaking defeat if it returns'
Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he believes Theresa May's new Brexit deal will be defeated by an even greater majority than the record breaking loss suffered in Meaningful Vote one.
The backbencher told ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston's Wednesday evening programme he thinks "the mood has turned very sharply against" the PM since that vote.
He said: "I don't think there's an occasion in history when a prime minister has lost anything like so heavily and has not recognised that that's a loss of confidence from the House of Commons and has not allowed someone else to take over."
He added: "I think, if she were to put the bill in the form she's proposed in the next week or two she would by even more than 230."
One thing getting in the way of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill being presented to the Commons for a fourth time is the resignation of Andrea Leadsom as House leader on Wednesday evening.
It is her who would have announced the bill to the Commons and she cited lack of support for it as her reason for resigning.
Her decision to quit has made her one of the favourites to take over from Mrs May as leader of the Tory Party but Mr Rees-Mogg he'll be backing Boris Johnson in a leadership contest.
The chairman of the influential European Research Group (ERG) says he supports Mr Johnson because "he supports Brexit in the first place and therefore he will be leading from something he thinks will work".
He added: "He has huge charisma and a record of winning elections - after all, he could win in London twice."
The Brexiter, who publicly declared no confidence in the PM in December, was at one point one a vocal supporter of Mrs May - that has changed.
He said the prime minister no longer has authority to deal with legislation and described her way of governing as "bizarre and incompetent".
He added: "Voters are completely fed up of politicians stitching things up in a back room and particularly fed up with politicians who can't even stitch things up competently."
After criticising the prime minister Mr Rees-Mogg went on to compliment one of her biggest political rivals.
He said Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage is a "remarkable politician".
He added: "What he has achieved in the past few weeks, to get the Brexit Party to over 30% in opinion polls shows that British politics has been really shaken up."
Another guest on Peston was Conservative backbench MP Johnny Mercer who also declared his support Mr Johnson to take over as party leader.
He said: "It's very clear to me that there's one individual that we can go forward and try and govern from the centre, centre right as a One Nation Tory and that is Boris Johnson."
He said he will be working very closely with Mr Johnson to secure his bid for the leadership and confirmed he would not be running himself.