UK minister Jacob Rees-Mogg’s style guide for staff: address men as ‘esquire’
- Memo for employees directs them to avoid using words such as ‘very’, ‘hopefully’ and ‘got’, and to address men with a courtesy title
- Rees-Mogg’s office says the list was written several years ago by his local staff
Staff working for Jacob Rees-Mogg, an ultra-Conservative lawmaker promoted to the British cabinet this week by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have been given a style guide insisting all correspondence uses imperial measurements.
Employees in his new department have also been ordered to refer to “non-titled males” as esquire – using the abbreviation “Esq.” after names – according to the two-page guide, leaked to ITV News on Friday.
Rees-Mogg, dubbed “the MP for the 18th century” for his love of formality and tradition, was on Wednesday made Leader of the House of Commons, responsible for arranging British government business.
Staff now working for the arch-Brexiteer in that office were promptly told to adhere to his traditional manners, with various words banned from office letters and emails, such as “got”, “very” or “equal”.
Political buzzwords and clichés that appear to irk Rees-Mogg and have also been outlawed include “ascertain”, “speculate” and “no longer fit for purpose”.
“Use imperial measurements,” the memo ordered, with the word “Imperial” emboldened.