Leadsom told by Tory women they ‘didn’t want a female PM’
ANDREA Leadsom was told by senior Tory women that they would not back her as the party couldn’t have ‘another woman’ as prime minister after Theresa May.
The former Commons leader failed to win enough support to advance to the next stage of the Tory leadership race last week.
She was apparently told that senior female Tories were refusing to back her because of Mrs May’s failure to deliver Brexit. Other male MPs also said to her that they would not have another female prime minister after Mrs May’s time in office.
Sources close to Mrs Leadsom confirmed she had been told that this was the reason why several female Conservatives refused to back her.
Yesterday, ITV political editor Robert Peston tweeted: ‘A source close to Andrea Leadsom tells me “senior Tory women” had confided they could not back Leadsom because “after Theresa May the new prime minister could not be another woman”.’
A parliamentary source said: ‘A number of people expressed concerns about the next prime minister being another woman, but the surprising factor was that this view was also held by some female MPs. This has been a bad campaign for women, and for feminism – not least to have no women through the first round.’
Mrs Leadsom and Esther McVey were knocked out after failing to get enough support, along with ex-chief whip Mark Harper. Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt was expected to run, but backed Jeremy Hunt.
At her campaign launch, Mrs Leadsom had promised ‘decisive and compassionate leadership’ and billed herself as an ‘optimistic yet realistic Brexiteer’.
Britain has only had two female prime ministers – Mrs May and Margaret Thatcher, who led the country from 1979 to 1990.