Populist Britain goes gaga over unabashed elitist

London

ON a recent afternoon, when the very tall, very thin British lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg rose from the bench where he had been reclining, his fellow members of Parliament perked up, confident that what followed would be amusing.

What upper-crust kookiness would it be this time? Would he call someone a "degenerate libertine"? Reference Darius the Mede? Invoke his floridly named sixth child, Sixtus Dominic Boniface Christopher Rees-Mogg? Slip in a 29-letter word as if no one would notice?

For years, Mr Rees-Mogg, 48, has been one of British politics' favourite ecce…