Moment Mordaunt channels Thatcher with brilliant play on words ‘every PM needs a willy’
Thatcher #Thatcher
David Davis explains why he is backing Penny Mordaunt
While launching her bid to become the next Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, Penny Mordaunt channeled former leader Margaret Thatcher as she waded into the controversial debate over biological sex. Asked to clarify her stance and how she would define a woman, she said to reporters: “I think it was Margaret Thatcher that said that every PM needs a willy. A woman like me doesn’t have one.” The play on words referred to a quote in which Mrs Thatcher praised her top aide Willie Whitelaw.
Dismissing her stance on the trans issue, Ms Mordaunt said: “I think we should be talking about the cost of living, I think we should be talking about health care.”
With humour, Margaret Thatcher, the first female British Prime Minister, made those comments in reference to deputy Prime Minister Whitelaw.
In an interview with the BBC, Mrs Thatcher praised her deputy Prime Minister, saying: “Every Prime Minister needs someone of total loyalty, big personality, big mind, like Willie Whitelaw who has this Parliamentary instinct.
‘They really do. There is no other person who can ever take Willie Whitelaw’s place?”
However, Ms Mordaunt leveraged the phrase to put the issue of transgender rights to bed ahead of Wednesday’s first round of voting.
Penny Mordaunt channeled Margaret Thatcher in launch speech (Image: GETTY)
Penny Mordaunt declare that transwomen are women in 2018 (Image: YOUTUBE/@SKYNEWS)
The Tory candidate has tried to shut down voices trying to depict her as “woke” amid a row over her stance on transgender rights.
The international trade minister – one of the favourite contenders to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister – has been accused of being “a committed warrior for the trans lobby” and of risking “enormous harm to women’s rights and children.”
When she was women and equalities minister under Theresa May, Ms Mordaunt insisted there was a difference between “biological women” and those who are “legally female.”
The first time she declared “transwomen are women” was back in 2018 in an interview with the PinkNews website.
READ MORE: Mordaunt channels Thatcher with brilliant play on words ‘I don’t’
Penny Mordaunt has tried to silence critics depicting her as “woke” (Image: YOUTUBE/@SKYNEWS)
Penny Mordaunt as in the past defended trans rights (Image: YOUTUBE/@SKYNEWS)
Since she threw her hat into the ring and announced her bid to become Prime Minister, there has been renewed scrutiny of Ms Mordaunt’s past comments on trans issues.
The Tory candidate appears to have made a U-turn on her previous stance in a bid to gather support from Tory MPs.
Some Conservative commentators claimed Ms Mordaunt’s previous stance had the potential of ruining her chances of becoming Prime Minister.
In a series of tweets, she tried to push back against her opponents on the controversial issue by saying: “I am biologically a woman. If I have a hysterectomy or mastectomy, I am still a woman. And I am legally a woman.
“Some people born male and who have been through the gender recognition process are also legally female. That DOES NOT mean they are biological women, like me.”
DON’T MISS:Penny Mordaunt slaps down Beth Rigby Theresa May with bigger hair’ [REPORT]POLL: Who do you want to win Tory leadership race and be next PM? [POLL]Brexit news: Mordaunt slams ‘disingenuous’ Cameron EU cave in [REPORT]
Penny Mordaunt used Thatcher’s phrase (Image: GETTY)
In another tweet, she added: “All my life, I’ve fought for gender equality. I’ve stood up for women. I’ve listened to them. I’ve been right alongside them in every major battle.
“I make sure policy is focussed on them. Just look at my track record.”
Ms Mordaunt’s sudden change of heart comes a few hours before the first round of voting in the Conservative leadership contest.
For now, she is trailing behind frontrunner Rishi Sunak in the polls. It remains unclear how her previous transgender stance could impact her leadership chances.
READ NEXT:Tory candidates’ key policies: what are they promising?’Might see pretty dramatic changes’ premiership still up for grabsNewsnight: Penny to play ‘hardball’ with EU over hated Brexit dealRishi Sunak’s ‘sound judgement’ wins supportBrexiteers may need a 2016 Remainer to carry their banner