A Conservative MP has triggered backlash after claiming Kemi Badenoch should not lead the Tories because she has young children.
Badenoch is battling out against Robert Jenrick has in the race to replace Rishi Sunak at the helm of the party.
Both of the remaining candidates have three children each, but Sir Christopher Chope only took issue with Badenoch’s family life last night.
Speaking to ITV Meridian’s The Last Word, he said he was supporting Jenrick in the race.
He explained: “It’s a really demanding job and, much as I like Kemi, I think she is pre-occupied with her own children, quite understandably.”
The MP said Jenrick’s children “are a bit older” and noted that the leader of the opposition needs to have an “immense amount of time and energy”.
When challenged, he said he was “not at all” saying a woman should not be a leader of a political party if she has children.
Chope said: “I was one of Margaret Thatcher’s strongest and staunchest supporters.”
Thatcher had two children, and was the Tory PM in No.10 from 1979 until 1990.
He said: “You could argue that Margaret Thatcher’s family suffered as a result of the commitment and dedication she gave to leading our country.”
The MP for Christchurch also claimed he had heard from colleagues that “Kemi spends a lot of time with her family”.
He claimed it is a “perfectly fair point” amid backlash from the other women on the show – but it seemed plenty of people on social media disagreed with him completely.
Chope later responded to the backlash on Times Radio, telling presenter Andrew Neil that both Badenoch and Jenrick would make “excellent party leaders”.
He said his advice would be the same even if Badenoch was male and had the same young kids, adding: “When I was in Margaret Thatcher’s government in the early 1990s, I was lucky enough to be the father of a newborn child, and that interacted with my fatherly paternal responsibilities. And that’s the reality of being involved in a demanding job.”
He added that he thought it was “great” both of the candidates are family people but suggested the question came down to the age of Badenoch’s children and her “record of wanting to spend more time with her family than engage in going to far-flung constituencies”.
Members of the Conservative Party have until October 31 to cast their votes.
The new leader will be announced on November 2, almost four months after Sunak decided he would be stepping down.