William Rees-Mogg
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William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg, (born July 14, 1928) is a journalist, writer and politician in the United Kingdom.
Born in Bristol, he began his career at The Financial Times, before moving to The Sunday Times. Here he wrote an article which many believe convinced Alec Douglas-Home to resign as Tory leader, making way for Edward Heath, in July 1965. He was Conservative candidate for the safe Labour seat of Chester-le-Street in a by-election on September 27, 1956, losing to Labour candidate Norman Pentland by 21,287 votes.
Rees-Mogg served as editor of The Times newspaper from 1967 to 1981, and still writes comment for the paper. In July 1967 Rees-Mogg wrote the famous editorial Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel? defending Mick Jagger following the Redlands arrests and attacking the UK laws on cannabis usage. He also was on the BBC's Board of Governors and a chairman of the Arts Council overseeing a major reform of the body halving the number of arts organisations receiving regular funding and reducing the Council's direct activities. Having been High Sheriff of Somerset from 1978 to 1979, he was made a life peer in 1988 as Baron Rees-Mogg, of Hinton Blewitt in the County of Avon, and sits in the House of Lords as a cross-bencher. He is currently a member of the European Reform Forum.
Rees-Mogg is author of The Sovereign Individual, The Great Reckoning, and Blood in the Streets, all three co-authored with James Dale Davidson.
Rees-Mogg's stand on drugs led to him being satirised by Private Eye as "Mogadon Man".
His youngest daughter, the Honourable Annunziata Rees-Mogg, stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Conservative Party in the 2005 general election. His son, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has also stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Conservative party in the 1997 and 2001 general elections.
He is the model for the character Somerset Lloyd-Jones in Simon Raven's 'Alms for Oblivion' series.
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| Media Offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Haley |
Editor of The Times 1967–1981 |
Succeeded by Harold Evans |
| Other Offices | ||
| Preceded by Kenneth Robinson |
Chair of the Arts Council of Great Britain 1982–1989 |
Succeeded by Peter Palumbo |
