Kemi Badenoch quit her job rather than take maternity leave when she had her second child, according to her biography. The Tory leadership candidate, who this week described maternity pay as “excessive”,

Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has suggested maternity pay has "gone too far" and the government needed to interfere less in people's lives. Speaking to Times Radio, Badenoch said statutory maternity pay, set up to support mothers for 39 weeks after having a baby, is a "function of tax" which she called "excessive".

Comments suggesting maternity pay has "gone too far" have been seized on by leadership opponents as Tory conference gets under way.

The Conservative MP for North West Essex has sparked a backlash from parents who disagree with her views on maternity pay.

There was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies’. Badenoch confirms she is not opposed to principle of maternity pay, as row over her 'excessive' claim escalates 14:10 Kemi Badenoch has put a post on social media saying she backs the principle of maternity pay.

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We need to have more personal responsibility - there was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies." Badenoch later said that sh