Philip Hammond said Andrea Leadsom lacks the worldwide credentials to be prime minister as the Tory leadership candidate also drew fire at home for suggesting motherhood makes her better qualified than her rival, Theresa May.
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The Times has not officially responded to Mrs Leadsom, but the newspaper’s deputy editor Emma Tucker tweeted what she said was a transcript from a section of the interview, according to the BBC.
“She is going to be asked about it in interviews, but she did have the judgment to say in that interview “don’t you dare contrast this with Theresa May” because she will have other factors as to why she passionately believes in this country”.
The Times reported Leadsom as saying that being a mother made her a better choice than May because she has a “very real stake” in the future of Britain.
The mother-of-three said May “possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people”.
She’s been heavily criticised for the remarks made during the interview as Mrs May and her husband can’t have children.
One of Ms Leadsom’s most high-profile backers Penny Mordaunt, the Defence minister, promised the Tory leadership candidate would set out a “third way” to solve the apparent dilemma over the single market and free movement – but this is yet to materialise. This morning she stated she was “disgusted about how this was presented”.
“I’ve seen her deal with crisis, I’ve seen her chair the Cobra emergency committee, I’ve seen her handle these things, and she’s absolutely committed, above all, to keeping this country safe”.
County councillor Ian Lawson has thrown his support behind Theresa May after first meeting the Home Secretary during a Conservative Party Conference 20 years ago. But the trigger would have to be the Leadsom-led Conservative party – someone so out of line with the left of the Tory party. “I’m not making it up or scoring a point”, he said.
“I don’t think we should see people as Brexiteers and Remainers now”.
Cameron has pushed for more women MPs while groups such as Women2Win, founded by May and Anne Jenkin, a Conservative member of the House of Lords, has helped the push, supporting figures like Leadsom.
She called on her opponent to fight a clean campaign and stay within “acceptable” limits of political debate before her rival’s comments were made public.
Hammond, a father who is openly backing May, said that being a parent doesn’t make a person a better prime minister. “The reporting of what I said is beneath contempt”, she said.
Leadsom, who has never run a government department, has faced questions she says are unfounded about whether she exaggerated her banking experience on her resume.
“I think they feel that at a time of turmoil that a woman will be more practical and a bit less testosterone (driven) in their approach”, she added.
She added: “I t is important that the new prime minister is alive to the threats to our union that the SNP will try to engineer”.
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‘The decision has been taken. and the next step is – and Britain will do this only when they have a new prime minister – to invoke Article 50, ‘ she said in an interview with the ZDF TV channel. No children, but 10 nieces and nephews.
