By Ellen Barry for The Saturday Profile @ NYTimes.com, Sept. 29

[....] For years, Mr. Rees-Mogg, 48, has been one of British politics’ favorite eccentrics, affecting a languid, antiquarian poshness that verges on performance art. He was an obscure backbencher, though, never once included in an annual ranking of the country’s top 100 right-wing thinkers.

Among the most unlikely developments of this political season in Britain has been that Mr. Rees-Mogg — whose conservative views include a hard line on departure from the European Union and on abortion and gay marriage — is being talked up as a possible Conservative Party leader.

This unfurled in phases all summer. Youth activists coined the term “Moggmentum,” touting him as the only Tory, as Conservatives are also known, with the charisma to match the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. A 24-year-old man from South Yorkshire had the phrase tattooed on his chest, sending the newspapers into transports of delight. Memes followed. There were online quizzes (“Name Your Child the Jacob Rees-Mogg Way”) and T-shirts (“This fellow is a Rees-Moggian teen”). Someone recorded electronic dance tracks called Moggwave [....]