Andrea Leadsom has been urged to sign a “clean campaign pledge” after appearing to suggest she had an edge over Theresa May in the race to become prime minister because she had children and May did not.
Leadsom came under fire on Saturday for claiming she was misquoted in a newspaper report that said her children gave her “a real stake” in the future of the country, moments after raising the fact that May was not a mother.
An audio recording of the interview and a written transcript that verified the story was released by the Times newspaper after Leadsom and her supporters claimed she had been misquoted in a deliberate attempt to smear her.
The Times ran the front page story with the headline “Being a mother gives me an edge on May – Leadsom” on Saturday, quoting the pro-Brexit MP as saying being a mother and having a large family was an advantage in the contest.
Leadsom, an energy minister who has only emerged within the last week as a serious contender to replace David Cameron, said that she did not want to capitalise on May’s childlessness because to do so would be “really horrible”. But in the same interview she stressed that having children was one factor that gave her a personal interest in the future of the country.
“I am sure Theresa will be really sad she doesn’t have children so I don’t want this to be, ‘Andrea has children, Theresa hasn’t’ because I think that would be really horrible,” she said. But she added: “Genuinely I feel that being a mum means you have a real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake.”
Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, has since called for Leadsom to sign the “clean campaign pledge”, saying Conservative members “do not want to witness a slanging match or see any backstabbing”.
He also opened up a new front in the battle between the two Tory candidates by suggesting May had the advantage on the world stage because many senior foreign politicians “have never heard of Andrea Leadsom”.
Hammond, who is supporting May’s bid to be the new prime minister, made the comments on the fringes of a Nato summit in Poland. “I’m not making it up or scoring a point,” he said.
“Self-evidently, most of my colleagues do not know Andrea Leadsom, have never heard of Andrea Leadsom. Many of them do know Theresa May because she has appeared at joint meetings of interior ministers and foreign ministers that we’ve had in response to dealing with CT [counter-terrorism] issues. She’s a known commodity to them and her reputation goes before her.”
He also said he did not think having children made someone more qualified to be prime minister.
“What makes you qualified to be prime minister is having long experience of the issues facing this country, a proven track record of being robust in the face of the many pressures people have at the very frontline of politics. That is why I am backing Theresa May to be the Conservative party leader and prime minister,” Hammond said.
He added: “Theresa May has been clear she wants this to be a clean campaign on the issues, not around personalities, but around capabilities and policies.
“She signed the clean campaign pledge. I would urge Leadsom to sign up to the clean campaign pledge and let’s make sure the rest of this campaign is clean and openly fought on the issues. That would be for the good of British politics, for the good of the Conservative party and both candidates.”
Dismissing the idea that Leadsom should withdraw, he said: “We need to have this competition and we need to see the membership of the Conservative party hearing the arguments and deciding.
“I am clear from the members I have spoken to they have got to hear the arguments and they do not want to witness a slanging match or see any backstabbing. They want to see a clear and clean debate.”
Leadsom and her supporters hit back at the Times report, claiming she had been misquoted, labelling the story “gutter journalism” and asking the author on Twitter: “How could you do this?”
According to reports, Leadsom also said: “I am beyond anger and disgust. The reporting of what I said is beneath contempt. In front of the Times reporter and cameraman I repeatedly made clear that nothing I said should be used in any way to suggest that May not having children had any bearing whatever on the leadership election. I expect the Times to retract the article and accompanying headline.”
But the Times released a recording of the relevant section of the interview, which was later played on BBC’s Radio 4, and a written transcript of the comments. Both appear to verify the paper’s report.
Confronted with the evidence by presenter John Humphrys, armed forces minister Penny Mordaunt said the report was an attempt to smear Leadsom.
The Leadsom supporter said: “Andrea’s first thoughts will be with Theresa in this matter; it’s a horrible thing to have happened to both candidates. But we have got to now raise our game and actually give a proper contest to the country.”
“I’m afraid this is an attempt, I think, by a paper that has declared for the other candidate to smear Andrea,” she added. ”We have had a pretty unedifying contest so far, including people trying to prevent Andrea getting on the ballot paper.”
Mordaunt added: “From my understanding of the interview, you could not have come away from that interview with the impression that the Times have clearly decided to write a headline on, which is something that she did not say.”
Speaking outside her home in Northamptonshire, Leadsom added: “I want to be crystal clear that everyone has an equal stake in the future of our country, that is what I believe.”
The comments drew criticism from politicians across the political divide. Ruth Davidson tweeted: “I am childless. I have nieces and nephews. I believe I – like everyone else – have a very real stake in our country.”
Tom Watson, the Labour deputy leader, also attacked the leadership hopeful. “No matter what trouble my party is in, this is disgusting. Leadsom should not be our prime minister,” he said.
