Amber Rudd has lashed out at Tory MPs for “parading” their partners during leadership contests. The Work and Pensions Secretary added politicians have a “different way” of addressing the Tory leadership issue. BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt asked: “It seems to that to be a candidate you have to be a man and you have to have a wife who is paraded for the cameras. Are we going backwards?” Ms Rudd replied: “Don’t wind me up, just because it’s all the men putting themselves forward at the moment. Listen, people have a different way of addressing this leadership issue.

“I don’t think we need to parade partners in the way that we’ve been seeing.

“I’m much more interested in the policies that people want to bring forward, than the actual people.

“When it comes to that election leadership, I think that is what will really influence the voters.”

Mr Watt remarked: “But there’s talk that you might cut a deal, Bamber, cut a deal with Boris Johnson and be his chancellor. You’re not a back room schemer – “

I don’t think we need to parade partners in the way that we’ve been seeing

Amber Rudd

Ms Rudd interjected: “Let them all speculate. What I am interested in is my department and making sure I deliver on it.

“I would much rather see people focussing on the jobs they’ve got in hand. And genuinely I think that’s what the public expect of us as well.

“You know, this shouldn’t be some Game of Thrones push for the Iron Throne. We’ve all got important jobs to do, let’s deliver on those.”

The comments follow leadership contester Jeremy Hunt taking his wide Lucia Guo on a recent trip to Africa, describing her as a “great diplomatic weapon” for the UK.

Dominic Raab also took his wife to a joint newspaper interview last weekend.

Prime Minister Theresa May has faced calls from within her own party to set her date of departure, after promising her own MPs that she will step down before the next stages of Brexit.

The Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee of backbenchers has demanded the Prime Minister outline a roadmap to when she should step down as leader, with her Brexit withdrawal agreement already being rejected three times.

The Chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady, who met the Prime Minister privately on Tuesday, made clear she had not offered any further clarity about her future.

Sir Graham said she would meet the committee’s 18-strong executive next week amid grassroots fury over the party’s worst local elections performance in 24 years.

Downing Street made clear the Prime Minister was not ready to go beyond her earlier promise to the 1922 Committee to quit as Tory leader when the first phase of Brexit negotiations – dealing with the divorce terms – is complete.

They stated: “The Prime Minister made a very generous and bold offer to the 1922 Committee a few weeks ago that she would see through phase one of the Brexit process and she would leave and open up for new leadership for phase two.”

It comes with the Government still in negotiations with the Labour Party after Mrs May reached out to leader Jeremy Corbyn last month to help try and deliver Brexit.

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