Former Australian PM, who has previously said “men are more suited to lead”, has given one piece of advice to Kemi Badenoch amid internal challenges to her authority.
Tony Abbott has told the under-pressure Tory leader to “stay strong” as a YouGov poll shows half of party members would not like to see her lead them into the next election.
Speaking to The London Economic at the Conservative conference, he said: “Kemi Badenoch is strong, principled, and exemplifies what’s so great about modern Britain. She wasn’t born here but she has completely assimilated.”
Mr Abbott added that she could be “trusted” to get a grip on the irregular migrant crisis but refused to comment on her record serving in government when pressured.
In a book, authored in 2009, the former prime minister said that men are suited to leadership roles as they are “by physiology or temperament more adapted to exercise authority or to issue command”.
During the 2014 Australian election campaign, he described a female opposition candidate as “feisty” and said she had “a bit of sex appeal”.
His comments come as speculation mounts that Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, is looking to replace Badenoch.
According the The i Paper, allies of Mr Jenrick are collecting no-confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for her to quit.
Up to a dozen supporters of the shadow cabinet minister are said to have penned letters, being held back for deployment after 3 November, the date she can be formally challenged.
“I don’t know anyone who now doesn’t think she will be gone either in November or May. November is possible because that’s when the rules change for a challenge,” a Conservative MP said.
“So, the judgment is, do you just do it fast? Because we just don’t have any time. And if you wait until after May, then what party is left?”
Mr Jenrick denies his team is plotting any challenges.