Andrea Leadsom's boss: It's too soon for her to be PM

Amber Rudd, Andrea Leadsom's boss, has told GMB that it is "too soon" for the junior energy minister to be prime minister.

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, who is supporting Home Secretary Theresa May's bid for leader of the Conservative party, said her colleague is "good at her job...but to suggest that she is ready for prime minister now, I think is too soon."

"To be prime minister you need to have real leadership, real experience, and a vision for the future," she added.

Speaking about Leadsom's apology over remarks she made about motherhood to The Times, Rudd said her colleague is an "honourable person and I think that she misjudged it ... she made the reference also to Theresa May, which I think was her mistake."

• Theresa May supporter: Move on from 'motherhood' remarks

Iain Duncan Smith, who is backing Leadsom for prime minister, told the programme that the past week has seen "whispering campaign" against the candidate, which he described as "the most remarkable almost unprecedented attempt to cast Andrea Leadsom in the most ridiculous ways."

Smith said that Leadsom was "angry and mortified" by The Times interview and said that her apology was "heartfelt."

He added that the South Northamptonshire MP's "sole purpose in life is to destroy Ukip by getting the Conservative Party in the right place over the vote to leave."

• Andrea Leadsom's apology to Theresa May over motherhood remarks