Oct 17, 2024 Story by: Editor
A senior Conservative MP has sparked controversy after stating that he would not support Kemi Badenoch for Tory party leader because she is “preoccupied with her own children.”
Sir Christopher Chope told ITV News that Badenoch, a frontrunner in the leadership race, would struggle to commit fully to the role of opposition leader due to her responsibilities as a mother of young children. Instead, Chope voiced his support for her opponent, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, explaining, “I myself am supporting Robert Jenrick because I think he’s brought more energy and commitment to the campaign, and being leader of the opposition is a really demanding job. Much as I like Kemi, I think she’s preoccupied with her own children, quite understandably. I think Robert’s children are a bit older, and I think it’s important that whoever leads the opposition has got an immense amount of time and energy.”
Both candidates have three children, with Badenoch’s youngest being five and Jenrick’s youngest being eight.
Chope’s comments were swiftly condemned across the political spectrum. Members of the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties expressed outrage, and Jenrick himself distanced from the remarks.
Liberal Democrat MP Liz Jarvis tweeted, “Diminishing women’s ability to play leading roles in public life because they have young families is an attitude that should be in the distant past.”
Labour MP Helena Dollimore also weighed in, stating, “I thought nothing could shock me about the state of the Conservative party, but that was before I had to sit through Christopher Chope MP opining about whether mothers can lead political parties.”
Stella Creasy, another Labour MP, added, “This is why we urgently need paternity leave sorted. Because until people start wondering if dads get distracted by their kids as much as they do mums, we will always have dinosaurs walk amongst us … or in this case, on the modernization committee in parliament …”
A spokesperson for Jenrick also disavowed Chope’s comments, clarifying, “Rob doesn’t agree with this. He’s raising three young daughters himself.”
Badenoch, who recently faced criticism for suggesting maternity pay was “excessive,” remains a leading candidate in the Tory leadership race. She will face Jenrick in a televised debate on GB News on Thursday.
Chope later defended his remarks, insisting they were not related to Badenoch being a woman. Speaking to Times Radio, he reiterated, “I repeat the point which I was making before, and that is that Kemi has got a young family and so it’s less likely that she’s going to be able to spend as much time as is required as somebody who hasn’t got the commitments of a young family.”
He added, “That’s not suggesting she’s unsuited or anything like that to be the leader of the opposition. And I just think there’s a lot of mischief-making going on here. All I’m saying is that one of the candidates has got a younger family than the other one. And has also got a record of wanting to spend more time with her family than engage in going to far-flung constituencies.”
This incident adds to the ongoing debate about misogyny in politics, which has intensified following a series of similar controversies. Earlier this summer, US Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance faced backlash for referring to “childless cat ladies.”
In 2016, Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the Conservative Party leadership race after appearing to imply that being a mother gave her an advantage over Theresa May, who has no children. And in 2013, Ukip politician Godfrey Bloom stirred outrage by calling a room full of women in politics “sluts” after two colleagues admitted they didn’t clean behind their fridge. Source: The Guardian
