PM hopeful Andrea Leadsom stuns Conservative MPs with her ‘car crash’ pitch at hustings
Star of Leave was backed by Boris and told MPs her agenda was 'bankers, Brussels and babies'
ANDREA Leadsom stunned Tory MPs last night with a "car crash" pitch for their votes.
It included bizarre talk about the need to massage babies’ brains.
The leadership hopeful was speaking at a crucial hustings ahead of today’s first vote towards choosing the nation’s next PM.
Energy Minister Ms Leadsom — who was last night backed by Boris Johnson — told the packed Commons meeting her agenda was “bankers, Brussels and babies”.
She confused colleagues with a pitch that one MP said went down “like a cup of cold sick”.
Ms Leadsom made a U-turn on her pledge just 24 hours earlier to trigger negotiations to pull Britain out of the EU as soon as possible.
Instead she said she now wants to wait until the UK “gets a grip”.
She vowed to build a new rail freight train line from Dover to Edinburgh, ploughing up dozens of Tory constituencies along the way.
And she refused to distance herself from Ukip’s biggest financial backer, the eccentric multi-millionaire Aaron Banks, who funds the campaign group Leave EU.
Star of the Leave movement Ms Leadsom’s botched pitch blew the race for second place in the contest wide open last night.
Home Secretary Theresa May extended her lead in the five-horse race by winning the backing of 122 Tory MPs by last night.
That guaranteed she would make the final two, from whom the party’s 130,000 members will next week be asked to make a choice.
Ms Leadsom had taken second place from Justice Secretary Michael Gove — who knifed Leave comrade Boris Johnson last week — with 40 MPs backing her.
Mr Gove, has the support of 32 MPs, Work and Pensions Secretary Steve Crabb has 24, while former Defence Secretary Liam Fox is trailing with 13.
Nearly 100 are still undeclared.
Related stories
One Tory MP said of Ms Leadsom’s performance: “She was rambling and ended up talking about how important it was to massage the prefrontal cortex of a baby’s brain.
“It was bizarre. This was meant to be an application to be PM, not a childhood development officer.”
Another undecided MP added: “She lost the room. People we’re talking to each other and playing on their iPads.
“I expected her to do much better. She has opened the door to Crabb or Gove again.”
Ex-banker Ms Leadsom was defended by her backer, the ex- Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.
He told The Sun: “Andrea made a lot of sense and it was very refreshing to hear.
“Changing society starts with how we treat young children.”
Mrs May was greeted by loud banging on tables and walls, as each contender took it in turns to deliver their pitches.
Mr Gove’s pitch was heard largely in “stony silence”, one MP in the room said. But a minister backing him called his performance “articulate and impressive”.
Aides were surprised he faced no questions about knifing Boris.
Supporters of Mr Crabb said Mr Gove was given “a frosty reception”, adding: “They didn’t need to say anything but it was daggers drawn”.
A Leadsom backer said the hustings had been “a stitch-up” by Mrs May’s camp, who ensured others got tough questions while she got an easy ride.
Ms Leadsom’s pitch came hours after the latest survey of party members by the Conservative Home website had her and Mrs May as clear front runners in the race.
More Cabinet ministers backed Mrs May yesterday — Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Environment Secretary Liz Truss, Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Tory deputy chairman Rob Halfon.
Mr Gove won the backing of ex-Chancellors Lord Lawson and Lord Lamont.
It emerged that many Tory MPs have been told by their associations that Mr Gove is now “toxic” for ditching Boris.
A senior Tory MP told The Sun: “The message from party activists was they want unity, and they think Michael’s election would prolong the civil war.”
The fifth-placed candidate will be knocked out after a first round of balloting of all 331 Tory MPs today.
A second vote is on Thursday and a third next Tuesday.
The final two candidates will then tour the country speaking in front of Conservatives, with the result of their vote on September 9.