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Debate erupts: Is motherhood an advantage for UK’s next PM?

FILE - In this two photo combo, showing the two contenders to become the leader of the Conservative Party and assume the post of Britain's Prime Minister, with Theresa May, left, dated July 5, 2016, and Andrea Leadsom, right, dated July 4, 2016. Andrea Leadsom suggested in an interview published Saturday July 9, 2016, in national newspaper The Times, that her status as a mother gives her an advantage over rival Theresa May, who does not have children. (AP Photos / Matt Dunham, FILE combo)
FILE - In this two photo combo, showing the two contenders to become the leader of the Conservative Party and assume the post of Britain's Prime Minister, with Theresa May, left, dated July 5, 2016, and Andrea Leadsom, right, dated July 4, 2016. Andrea Leadsom suggested in an interview published Saturday July 9, 2016, in national newspaper The Times, that her status as a mother gives her an advantage over rival Theresa May, who does not have children. (AP Photos / Matt Dunham, FILE combo) FILE - In this two photo combo, showing the two contenders to become the leader of the Conservative Party and assume the post of Britain's Prime Minister, with Theresa May, left, dated July 5, 2016, and Andrea Leadsom, right, dated July 4, 2016. Andrea Leadsom suggested in an interview published Saturday July 9, 2016, in national newspaper The Times, that her status as a mother gives her an advantage over rival Theresa May, who does not have children. (AP Photos / Matt Dunham, FILE combo)

By Associated Press 4 min read

LONDON (AP) – Two Conservative women running to become Britain’s next leader are facing a question that wouldn’t be raised if there were male candidates for the job: Does being a mother make you better qualified to be prime minister?

A political maelstrom emerged Saturday when Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom 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 runoff to replace Prime Minister David Cameron, who is resigning after British voters rejected his advice and chose 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 explosive 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.