Remarks about motherhood roil British premier race

LONDON — A dispute erupted Saturday in the contest between the two women vying to become Britain’s next prime minister after one of them seemed to suggest in a newspaper interview that being a mother would make her a better leader than her rival, who does not have children.

The controversy over the remarks is the latest twist in a fierce campaign to succeed David Cameron as the leader of the governing Conservative Party and prime minister. After losing last month’s referendum over whether Britain should remain in the European Union, Cameron said he would resign in the fall.

The final two contenders to succeed him are Theresa May, the home secretary, and Andrea Leadsom, the energy minister.

Saturday’s dispute arose after The Times of London quoted Leadsom, a mother of three, as saying in an interview that having children meant she had “a very real stake” in Britain’s future.

According to the newspaper, Leadsom said that while May “possibly has nieces, nephews,” she herself had “children who are going to have children” who would be directly affected by what happened after Britain left the EU.

Though her words do not appear to be in dispute — the newspaper released an audio recording of part of the interview — Leadsom-reacted with anger to the presentation of her comments, and to the newspaper’s front-page headline: “Being a mother gives me edge on May — Leadsom.”

In a Twitter post, Leadsom described the newspaper’s article as “truly appalling and the exact opposite of what I said,” adding, “I am disgusted.”

“In the course of a lengthy interview yesterday, I was repeatedly asked about my children, and I repeatedly made it clear that I did not want this to be in any way a feature of the campaign,” she said in a statement.