Penny Mordaunt too ‘woke’ to lead Tory party, suggests defeated leadership rival Suella Braverman

Tory leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt is too “woke” to lead the Tory party or become prime minister, one of her former leadership rivals has claimed.

Attorney general Suella Braverman, who was dumped out of the race last week, once again took aim at the Ms Mordaunt over her stance on trans rights.

On Times Radio she said she was “honoured” that the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act that was passed in Parliament that allowed her to take maternity last year without resigning as the government’s chief law officer.

She said that Ms Mordaunt was the Bill minister at the time and the wording described her as a “pregnant person”, which Ms Braverman said she found “pretty offensive” and “denying her womanhood”.

Ms Braverman, who has come out in support of Liz Truss’s campaign since she was elimated from the leadership race, alleged that Ms Mordaunt resisted any changes to the wording of the legislation and wanted “pregnant person” and “resisted the inclusion of the word woman”.

When asked if she thought Ms Mordaunt, the bookies frontrunner for the leadership, was “too woke” to lead the Tory party or becoming prime minister, she responded: “My view of Penny is that she is woke, yes.

“I have no disrespect for her for her woke views, but I think we should call it out for what it is.”

She did not add any qualifiying information about what she meant by the word “woke” or clarify if Ms Mordaunt’s views on trans rights were her only “woke” beliefs.

Ms Braverman added: “I have a very high opinion of Penny I have to say, I think she’s a remarkable lady, she’s a contituecy neighbour of mine, she’s a very effective local politician and a bit of an effective minister.

“But I disagree with her on her views on trans ideology, gender ideology and the definition of a woman.”

Ms Mordaunt’s views on trans rights have been the subject of sustained attention by her leadership rivals amid claims she pursued a policy of self-identification for trans people.

The Sunday Times said it had seen government papers which appeared to suggest Ms Mordaunt was in favour of removing at least one element of the medical process required for transgender people to legally transition.

However, Ms Mordaunt told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme that she had never advocated ending the requirement for trans people to obtain a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they could legally change gender.

“This has been rebutted many times. We all know what is going on. This is the type of toxic politics people want to get away from,” she said.

“We did a consultation. We asked healthcare professionals what they thought about the situation. That is the section I looked after. I managed that consultation. We didn’t actually on my shift produce a policy.

“There is a number of smears going on in the papers. My colleagues are very angry and upset that this is how the leadership contest is being dragged down.”

Additional reporting by PA