 A report in "The Independent" suggested that this position provided him with the immediate support of around 50 Conservative MPs, a sufficient number to trigger a leadership contest.Since then, Rees-Mogg directly criticised the leadership of May and chancellor Philip Hammond, fuelling more rumours that he was planning to stand for the leadership but reiterated he had no intention of doing so.In February, a speech that Rees-Mogg was giving at the University of the West of England was disrupted when left wing protesters accused him of being a racist and a bigot; violence broke out between the protesters and Mogg's supporters.