LAURA Kuenssberg called out Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch for refusing to appear on her flagship BBC show on Sunday morning.
Kuenssberg said that Badenoch had declined to take audience questions despite her rival, Robert Jenrick, having done so.
Speaking on Sunday morning, the BBC host told viewers: “In a fortnight, we will find out whether Robert Jenrick or Kemi Badenoch will be the new leader of the opposition.
“Last week, Robert Jenrick was here and game enough to take your tough questions.
“Kemi Badenoch, despite our invitation to do the same, has so far declined.”
It comes after Badenoch also refused to take part in a BBC Question Time special unless every person in the audience was a paid-up member of the Conservative Party.
READ MORE: Prominent Tory peer resigns from party over 'how far right' it has moved
She did take part in a two-hour broadcast alongside Jenrick on GB News, which agreed to let them have an audience of only Tory Party members.
The news comes as both Badenoch and Jenrick spoke to the Sunday papers in a bid to lay out their stall.
Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Jenrick pledged to repeal the Climate Change Act and the Equality Act if he became prime minister.
Jenrick has already said the UK should leave the European Convention on Human Rights but widened his attack to cover a range of Blair-era laws that he said prevented ministers from making the decisions they wanted to.
In an interview with The Times, Badenoch said there needed to be more discussion of the role of fathers in parenting, adding the party had too often focused on single mothers in the past.
It came in the wake of a row over comments by veteran Tory MP Christopher Chope, a supporter of Jenrick, in which he said the mother-of-three was “preoccupied,” telling ITV “you can’t spend all your time with your family” while leader of the opposition.
Jenrick distanced himself from Chope’s comments, describing them as “definitely wrong”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel