Tory leadership: Kemi Badenoch says people are too 'scared to have families' after maternity pay comments

The former Business Secretary, who is one of the frontrunners to replace Rishi Sunak, was fighting to get her campaign back on track after a tough first day at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Speaking to Times Radio, the Shadow Communities Secretary described statutory maternity pay as “a function of tax”, and said: “Tax comes from people who are working – we’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.”

She later wrote on social media: “Contrary to what some have said, I clearly said the burden of regulation on businesses had gone too far… of course I believe in maternity pay!”

Yesterday, at a fringe event, Ms Badenoch said that people are “scared to have families”.

She explained: “I think that there are things that we have to do to make sure that we make life comfortable for those people who are… starting families,” listing examples such as maternity pay, childcare provision and housing.

“A lot of people have fewer children because they start having children later,” she said.

“And so they just can’t have as many as perhaps they might have liked. Some people feel that they can’t afford children, I often think that too many people are worried about the money more than they need to be.

“But we need to give people confidence. People are scared to have families."

Ms Badenoch is up against Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly in the race to become the next Tory leader on 2 November.

The quartet are trying to drum up support from their colleagues and party members at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

Mr Tugendhat and Ms Badenoch both took part in question and answer sessions yesterday, while Mr Jenrick and Mr Cleverly will undergo a similar grilling today.

Then, on Wednesday, all four will give speeches. Two of the contenders will be eliminated in MP ballots over the next two weeks, before the membership votes on the final two.

Mr Cleverly, the former Home Secretary, said that children should not be allowed to “dictate” their gender identity to adults.

He said adults were instead meant to teach children about the world, as their brains are not yet fully developed.

The former minister compared the slow biological development of human brains with deer, which he said are “pretty much ready to rock and roll” within hours of birth.

Mr Cleverly was asked for his opinion on teenagers socially transitioning without their parents’ knowledge, at a Conservative party conference fringe event.

He said “childhood, adolescence and puberty is really confusing, hard and difficult” for most people.

The Braintree MP added: “I clearly missed the memo when we collectively decided that children dictate to adults and adults don’t teach children, because that strikes me as a bit of a recipe for disaster.”

Speaking at a separate fringe event, Mr Cleverly said the Conservatives were “too blokey”.

He told a hustings with the Conservative Women’s Organisation: “We have got to get better at harvesting all the horsepower in our party and that means women.

“We have also got to recruit more women. We are too blokey as a party, and I say that as a bloke.”