Jacob Rees-Mogg’s wife makes feelings clear on family’s new reality series: ‘I hope it’s not a complete train crash’

The wife of Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has joked that the way her family is portrayed in a forthcoming reality TV show is not as bad as she feared it might have been.

Asked if she was happy with the results, during the Camilla Tominey Show on GB News, Lady Helena Rees-Mogg said: “Not as bad as feared, I would say.

“Yes, we have seen all five episodes. Discovery+ kind of showed them to us when they were sort of nearly finished, as they went along. And I hope it’s not a complete train crash.

“At some point I was told it was going to be 85 per cent Jacob and just 15 per cent the rest of us. I haven’t actually sat down with any kind of timer and worked out what it is. It feels like rather more than 15 per cent of children and me, though, but there we are.”

Asked if she knew Jacob was going to lose his seat at the election, she said: “I was still hopeful. But as I think I said at some point, optimistic would have been seriously pushing it.

“I think all the polls showed that Labour were going to take that seat back from the Conservatives, apart from about two polls, one of which Annunziata found somewhere, Jacob’s sister, possibly down the back of her sofa.

“Other than about two polls, yes, nearly all of them showed the Conservatives losing the seat. So I guess being realistic – but you, of course, you still have to campaign with as much energy and enthusiasm and conviction as possible.”

Sir Jacob said: “I knew it was coming. The Tories were being washed out. There’s nothing you can do. And I was very lucky because unlike many MPs, I had a job to come into on Monday evening at GB News.

“So I didn’t find that I’d lost this seat and had nothing to do. I actually had quite a lot to do. And therefore the momentum of life was maintained. So no, it was expected.

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“It became completely obvious once the election was called, I wrote to my boarding school children to say I will lose the election, to warn them pretty much the day it was called or the day after.”

He said he did not blame Rishi Sunak for his defeat: “I certainly don’t blame him. I think he’s a very decent, highly intelligent man, but he unquestionably made a mistake in calling it early.

“Little things were getting a little bit better. We might have seen a little bit more of the Labour Party, which has been a disaster in government. Interest rates had come down a bit. I think time was on our side. The early election maximised the damage.

“And of course, Nigel Farage would have been in America had we had it in early November, so there are all sorts of opportunities that were missed.”

Asked if she thought the Tories have a future, Helena said: “I do, though perhaps that’s because I’m a natural optimist, but Jacob and I are both still members of the Conservative Party. And yes, I think they do.

“I think Kemi is absolutely great. She has a lovely speaking voice every time she says something. I also think I want to hear more from her rather than less, which is a good start.

“And no, I think ultimately all will be well for the Conservatives, but obviously they’ve probably got five years in opposition, at least, perhaps, or maybe more.”

Jacob said: “Kemi has great strength. She is an extremely charismatic leader. She’s very forthright. She made an important speech yesterday on migration…that was part of the reason we lost the election and she’s setting out her stall for how we deal with this.

“But you’re absolutely right. We need to win votes back from Nigel [Farage] because that’s where our vote went. It stayed at home, or it went to Nigel. It didn’t go to the Labour Party.”