 On 14 August, co-founder of "Ready for Rees-Mogg" Sam Frost announced the petition had gathered 22,000 registered supporters, 700 volunteers and £7,000 in donations, despite Rees-Mogg having said a day earlier that such speculation was "part of media's silly season" and that "no-body serious" believed he was a candidate.On 5 September 2017, a poll conducted by ConservativeHome put Rees-Mogg as the favourite for next leader, with 23% of the votes based on 1,309 people surveyed.He was elected chair of the European Research Group, a Eurosceptic pressure group within the Conservative Party, in January 2018.