penny mordaunt She was accused of shifting her views on trans rights to appeal Tory Members last night ‘attempted to reverse their reputation as’picking Warrior’.
As Miss Mordaunt became a favorite of bookies, rival campaigns suggested that she was hiding her true beliefs on trans rights in order to win the race to become prime minister.
an associate of liz truss Told: ‘[She’s] Claiming that she never pushed for trans rights when she was minister of equality when there are people in government who she knows is not true. She is lying.
Formally launching her campaign yesterday, the Minister of International Trade attempted to address her views by citing a quote from Margaret Thatcher about her right-hand man, Willie Whitlaw.
But sources in rival campaigns say she is a supporter of trans rights and is hiding it in order to be elected as the next PM.
While formally launching her campaign yesterday, the Minister of International Trade attempted to address the issue by making an extraordinary reference to Margaret Thatcher’s quote about her right-hand man, Willie Whitlaw.
Asked her views on gender, she said: ‘I think it was Margaret Thatcher who said ‘every prime minister needs a willie’. A woman like me doesn’t have one.
Asked to define the word ‘female’, the Portsmouth North MP pointed to biological differences between men and women.
‘I’m a woman. I am biologically a woman. And I can tell you that if you’ve been in the Royal Navy and you’ve competed physically against men, you understand the biological difference between men and women,’ she said.
Miss Mordent previously told lawmakers in a House of Commons dispatch box: ‘Trans men are men and trans women are women.’
Yesterday, she faced criticism from trans rights activists who accused her of changing her stance to win over Tory party members.
Ben Cohen, CEO of LGBTQ+ website Pink News, said: ‘I think it’s okay for politicians to change their mind, in which case it would be disappointing but that’s all I say.’
Meanwhile, a source from a rival leadership campaign said: ‘She can’t say out loud that men can be pregnant and women can have genders because she could soon face Tory membership, but she should know. That’s what she should think.
In the past, some conservative commentators have suggested that Miss Mordent’s views on trans rights may have ‘ruined’ her chances of ever becoming PM.
But a YouGov Snap poll of 876 Tory members on Tuesday found that 27 percent say they would favor Miss Mordant as Boris Johnson’s replacement.
Former minister Kemi Badenoch was second with 15 percent, while Rishi Sunak and Miss Truss were tied in 13 percent of the vote, which is not representative of the members.
Speaking at her launch yesterday morning, Miss Mordant told Tory lawmakers that she is the candidate ‘Labor fears most’.
Ms Mordant has the support of Andrea Leadsom (left) and was the first voice for transgender people in the House of Commons, saying ‘trans men are men’ and ‘trans women are women’
The former defense secretary began his pitch to become the next prime minister by promising to return to the traditional conservative values of ‘low taxes, small states and individual responsibility’.
Miss Mordant said her key economic policy would be that debt as a percentage of GDP, a measure of national income, would fall ‘over time’.
It has promised a 50 percent cut in VAT on fuel to help reduce the cost of living, but has not gone as far as others in the race for tax cuts.
And the naval reservists stood by the Conservative manifesto’s commitment to meet NATO’s target for defense spending of 2 percent of GDP and 0.5 percent above inflation every year.
The long-term Brexit supporter said government supply-side reforms would yield a “Brexit dividend” on investment, infrastructure and innovation.
He promised to ‘put the power back in the hands of the parents’ through a personal budget, which allows every child to access their right to subsidized childcare at any time before starting school.
Miss Mordant also addressed the sexist attacks against her from within her party, who were trying to sabotage her campaign.
“Well, they are very smart people because I am a threat to their campaign,” she said.
Last night she finished second in the first round with the support of 67 Tory MPs, only to be defeated by Mr Sunak on 88.