Kemi Badenoch: I would give JK Rowling peerage for her gender stance

In an interview with TalkTV, the former equalities minister praised both the Harry Potter author and paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass for their stance on gender, saying they have “fought for so much” and need “protection”.

“They are attacked relentlessly by all sorts of oddballs and bad people,” she said.

Asked whether she would give former Labour supporter Ms Rowling a peerage, Ms Badenoch said: “I would. I don’t know whether she would take it. I certainly would give her a peerage.”

She added that she had “managed to get Dr Hilary Cass a peerage” because she would be “a strong voice in Parliament”.

Lady Cass, as she now is, took her seat in the Lords on Monday having been elevated to the upper chamber as an independent crossbench peer in Rishi Sunak’s dissolution honours earlier this year.

Her review, published in April, found care had been directed by “ideology on all sides” and was based on “remarkably weak evidence”.

It led to NHS England ending the prescription of puberty blockers for children experiencing gender dysphoria, with Scotland’s only clinic offering gender services to young people following suit.

But some doctors and academics both in the UK and internationally have criticised the report, expressing concern about its methodology, and the British Medical Association has announced it will carry out an evaluation of the Cass Review.

In her TalkTV interview, Ms Badenoch accused some Tory leadership candidates of “throwing mud”, agreeing that the campaign had been “dirty”.

She also argued that ministers had been too quick to seek to “blame” people for the Southport riots, rather than providing “reassurance that (they) understand the issues”.

“People may have got the perpetrator’s identity wrong, but the fact is some kids are not here today who should be here. That is an unspeakable tragedy,” she said.

Meanwhile, Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope said Ms Badenoch is “preoccupied with her own children”, telling ITV that “you can’t spend all your time with your family” while being Leader of the Opposition.

Sir Christopher said that he was backing Ms Badenoch’s opponent in the contest, Robert Jenrick, whose children are “a bit older”.

Mr Jenrick’s campaign distanced the Tory leadership contender from Sir Christopher’s comments, and the MP for Christchurch is now facing backlash from other Conservative figures.

Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick are vying for the support of Conservative members in their quest to succeed Rishi Sunak as Tory leader.

Sir Christopher told ITV Meridian’s The Last Word programme that “I myself am supporting Robert Jenrick because I think he’s brought more energy and commitment to the campaign, and being leader of the opposition is a really demanding job.

“And, much as I like Kemi, I think she’s preoccupied with her own children, quite understandably.

“But I think Robert’s children are a bit older, and I think that it’s important that whoever leads the opposition has got an immense amount of time and energy.”

Mother-of-three Ms Badenoch’s youngest child is five and her eldest is 12, while Mr Jenrick also has three children between the ages of eight and 13.