Leadsom, a devout Christian, accused the Times of “gutter journalism” after it published an interview in which she said: “I feel being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake”.
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“And I was really pleased yesterday with the level of support I got from my parliamentary colleagues and support from colleagues from both sides of the party, right and left, from Remainers and Leavers and from all parts of the country”.
In the interview, Mrs Leadsom said Mrs May “possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people”.
Mrs May does not have children, and Mrs Leadsom’s comments caused a huge backlash, including criticism from senior Conservatives Ruth Davidson and Sir Alan Duncan.
Leadsom had previously commented that having a female prime minister will be a positive step for Britain.
Ms Leadsom’s team will suggest she is the heir to Margaret Thatcher, arguing that she came from a humble state-educated background and shares their heroine’s same populist, no-nonsense outlook on the world.
“She should do it more often”, she added.
Responding to the publication of the interview, which is on the front page of Saturday’s edition of the newspaper, Mrs Leadsom said the way her words had been construed was “beyond disgusting”.
Leadsom is going head to head with Home Secretary May in a bid to replace David Cameron.
When Work and Pensions minister Priti Patel was asked if she could become a Conservative version of Mr Corbyn, she said: “We could end up in that situation”.
Controlling immigration was a major driver for numerous 52 percent of Britons who backed leaving the European Union but Britain may have to accept EU citizens in return for access to the single market. Now their official campaign begins as they look to convince the 150,000 Tory party members around the country.
“For me, family comes first”, Leadsom told The Telegraph in an interview last week.
ANDREA Leadsom will be the Tories’ Jeremy Corbyn if she wins the race for No10, party members were warned today.
Asked whether she felt it had affected her outlook as a politician she said, “I don’t think so, it’s an impossible question because you can’t tell what you’d have been like if you’d been in a different position”. “Either way, an apology is due”.
She added: “I don’t think it matters whether somebody has children”.
Home Secretary Theresa May, responsible for Britain’s interior matters, and Energy and Climate Change Minister Andrea Leadsom emerged as the final two contenders after Justice Secretary Michael Gove was eliminated by a vote of MPs at Westminster. “But we have got to now raise our game and actually give a proper contest to the country”.
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The MP for South Northamptonshire noted that along with her experience in the City, she had also had a part-time job in Sainsbury’s supermarket, worked as a silver-service waitress and ran a hotel restaurant for a summer.
