Allies of Theresa May have attacked Andrea Leadsom, with one minister suggesting the latter could become the Tory equivalent of Jeremy Corbyn because of her lack of support in parliament.
Employment minister Priti Patel, who campaigned for Brexit alongside Mrs Leadsom, suggested that the energy minister lacked the experience and broad appeal to win a general election.
Ms Patel, who is backing Mrs May to be Tory leader and prime minister, compared her to Margaret Thatcher and said her experience is "second to none".
@BethRigby Your followers looking for the audio of Leadsom can find it here: https://t.co/4wV3KftN9t
— Scott Silbereis (@ScottInBristol) July 9, 2016
Truly appalling and the exact opposite of what I said. I am disgusted. https://t.co/DPFzjNmKie
— Andrea Leadsom MP (@andrealeadsom) July 8, 2016
Yesterday, I launched my clean campaign pledge, and invite @AndreaLeadsom to join me in signing it -TM pic.twitter.com/jaC3hP34N4
— Theresa May (@TheresaMay2016) July 9, 2016
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph she warned that Mrs Leadsom could find herself unable to govern due to the lack of support from MPs, or win an election victory by appealing to swing voters.
"You win elections by having that broad appeal," she said. "Look at Labour right now, and the narrow appeal they have. We have to represent society as it is today and be a true voice for modern Britain and a positive Britain."
Mrs May secured her place on the leadership ballot by securing 199 votes from MPs, with Mrs Leadsom winning the support of 84 colleagues.
Ms Patel warned a victory for Mrs Leadsom could mean that the process of leaving the European Union would be harder to deliver, even though she backed Brexit and Mrs May had supported a remain vote.
Conservative Corbyn
Asked if Mrs Leadsom could become a Conservative version of Mr Corbyn, Ms Patel said: “We could end up in that situation. And then it becomes very difficult to govern and deliver the programme for leave.”
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith dismissed the comparison between Mrs Leadsom's position and that of Mr Corbyn when she secured second place in the MPs' vote on Thursday.
He told the Press Association: “Honestly, no comparisons with Corbyn. I have to tell you, this is a smart woman who has real intellectual capability, she is very easy, she speaks well, she’s got real steel.”
Mrs Leadsom endured a barrage of criticism on Saturday after appearing to suggest that being a mother gave her an advantage over Mrs May, who has no children.
Mrs Leadsom said she was “disgusted” by the way her comments had been presented and insisted that she believed “everyone has an equal stake in our society”, stressing that she did not want the issue of children to be a feature of the campaign.
In an interview with The Times, Mrs Leadsom said: "Genuinely I feel that being a mum means you have a very real stake in the future of our country, a tangible stake."
‘Vile’
Business minister Anna Soubry said Mrs Leadsom’s comments meant she was “not PM material” while Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said there was a “gulf in class” between the two candidates and senior MP Sir Alan Duncan said the energy minister’s remarks were “vile”.
Armed forces minister Penny Mordaunt, a Leadsom supporter, said The Times report was an attempt to "smear" Mrs Leadsom.
The outgoing UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Mrs Leadsom has the "guts" to take on Brussels and he dismissed Mrs May as "cold" and lacking courage.
Meanwhile, the far-right Britain First also expressed support for Mrs Leadsom as part of a campaign to derail the Home Secretary’s leadership bid.
A propaganda video released by the party called the Home Secretary a “treacherous collaborator of the EU” and a “fan of Islamic sharia law” and showed a series of photographs of her wearing a headscarf on a visit to a mosque.