Penny Mordaunt, a potential candidate for the Conservative leadership, has urged a stop to toxic politics and stated that the selection of a new prime minister should take precedence.
She denied suggestions that she had ever supported gender self-identification, telling the BBC that there were "a number of smears going on in the papers."
Prior to the next round of voting on Monday, Ms. Mordaunt is one of the remaining five contenders in the fight for the leadership position.
The Tories, according to Tom Tugendhat, required a "clean start."
The cost of living crisis, according to Ms. Mordaunt, who is now ranked second in the race after the most recent round of MP voting, is her top concern.
After concerns were raised throughout the competition about her track record as equalities minister, she was also questioned on how individuals should be able to legally alter their gender.
When asked by Sophie Raworth if she believed transgender persons should need a gender dysphoria medical diagnosis before they could legally alter their gender, she said, "Yes."
It followed the Sunday Times' report that it had seen government documents that seemed to indicate Ms. Mordaunt had supported eliminating at least one step of the medical procedure necessary for transgender persons to legally transition.
"We are all aware of the situation. People want to break away from this kind of poisonous politics, she remarked.
"The unfortunate British people must endure this for another month while we choose our prime leader. It's a chance for our party to put on a strong performance. We ought to discuss and concentrate on the problems that matter to them."
While she served as equalities minister, she said that "we didn't actually... develop a policy," but rather, her responsibility was to oversee a consultation in which healthcare experts were asked their opinions on the system.
"This is how the leadership contest is being pulled down," one of my coworkers said.
Her remarks came during her first TV leadership debate on Friday, where she sparred with other contenders Kemi Badenoch and Liz Truss over allegations that she had supported a rule change. From April 2018 until July 2019, Ms. Mordaunt served as the minister of equality. While Ms. Badenoch joined the department as junior equalities minister from February 2020 until July 2022, Ms. Truss assumed her position in September 2019.