Kemi Badenoch faces backlash as Tory rivals seize on maternity pay comments

Leadership contender's team in damage control mode after she is criticised for saying burden on business is excessive'

Kemi Badenoch's campaign was in damage control mode on the first day of Conservative party conference, as rival candidates criticised comments she made on maternity pay, saying the burden on business was excessive" and that people should exercise more personal responsibility".

Badenoch, the frontrunner among party members in the four-way contest, was forced to twice clarify the comments and emphasise that she of course" believed in maternity pay. But the comments were seized upon by other candidates, who distanced themselves from Badenoch's words.