LONDON -- A political maelstrom emerged Saturday when Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, a candidate for British prime minister, suggested in an interview with the Times of London that her status as a mother gives her an advantage over rival Home Secretary Theresa May, who does not have children.
The two women are in a runoff to replace Prime Minister David Cameron, who is resigning after U.K. voters rejected his advice and voted to leave the European Union. May is considered the front-runner, winning the most votes as Conservative lawmakers whittled down the candidates to two.
Leadsom's remarks have touched off an uproar among Conservative Party members who are voting in the runoff.
"I don't really know Theresa very well, but I am sure she will be really, really sad she doesn't have children. So I don't want this to be 'Andrea has got children, Theresa hasn't,' because I think that would be really horrible. But genuinely I feel that being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake," Leadsom said in the report.
"She possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people, but I have children who are going to have children who will directly be a part of what happens next," Leadsom said.
Leadsom, 53, immediately cried foul at the way in which the Times reported the remarks, which ran under the headline "Being a mother gives me edge on May -- Leadsom." She accused the Times of "gutter journalism" and demanded a retraction.
"How could you?" she asked on her Twitter feed, directing her remarks to Times reporter Rachel Sylvester.
The Times released a voice recording of the key section of the interview. Sylvester, who noted that Leadsom had talked about being a mother during the EU campaign, told the BBC that she was baffled by Leadsom's reaction to a question about whether motherhood had informed her politics.
"She raised Theresa May and the fact that she doesn't have children herself," Sylvester told the BBC. "It was she who introduced Theresa May into the whole discussion."
May, 59, told the Daily Telegraph in an interview published Saturday that she likes to keep her "personal life personal" but said that she and her husband Philip have "dealt with" their inability to have children.
"I hope nobody would think that mattered," May said. "I can still empathize, understand people and care about fairness and opportunity."
Leadsom's comments have caused fury within her own party. Among those angered is Conservative lawmaker Alan Duncan, a May supporter.
"I'm gay and in a civil partnership," he said. "No children, but 10 nieces and nephews. Do I not have a stake in the future of the country? Vile."
Cameron, who was in Poland for a NATO summit, refused to comment on the motherhood topic. He is a parent.
Amid the firestorm, Leadsom emerged from her home to read a statement.
"Over the course of a lengthy interview I was repeatedly asked about my children and I repeatedly made it clear that I did not want this to be a feature of the campaign," she said. "I am disgusted at the way this has been presented. I want to be crystal clear that everyone has an equal stake in our society and the future of our country."
Leadsom drew further flak when Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said she lacks the international credentials to be prime minister and that May is better known around the world.
"Most of my colleagues do not know Andrea Leadsom," Hammond said at a NATO summit in Warsaw. "Many of them do know Theresa May because she's appeared at joint meetings of interior ministers and foreign ministers that we've had in response to dealing with counterterrorism issues in the European Union. She's a known commodity to them, and her reputation goes before her."
Prior to the motherhood claims, the contest had already produced claims of betrayal, mainly involving the justice secretary, Michael Gove. Gove had abandoned his friend Cameron to join the "Leave" campaign in the EU referendum, then unexpectedly announced his candidacy for the top post, undermining the prospects of Boris Johnson, a former London mayor.
Gove was eliminated from the contest Thursday when Conservative lawmakers narrowed the field to May and Leadsom. They will seek the support of about 150,000 party members who will choose the winner in September.
The opposition Labor Party faced its own power struggle as Angela Eagle, the party's spokesman on business issues, said Saturday that she intends to challenge the party's leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
Eagle said she will make an official announcement Monday.
Corbyn has refused to stand aside despite losing a no-confidence vote on his leadership by the party's lawmakers last month. More than a dozen members of his leadership team have resigned.
Information for this article was contributed by Danica Kirka of The Associated Press; by Kit Chellel and Alex Morales of Bloomberg News; and by Stephen Castle of The New York Times.
A Section on 07/10/2016