A row over comments by leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch suggesting maternity pay had “gone too far” has dominated the first day of the Conservative Party conference.

The shadow housing secretary later told reporters she did not think maternity pay “needs changing at all” – insisting her comments had been about cutting business regulation and were “misrepresented”.

But her remarks were seized upon by her leadership rivals as the race to replace Rishi Sunak ramped up.

One member of a rival camp told the BBC: “We’ve had a brilliant day and we’ve barely had to say a word!”

During an interview with Times Radio, Badenoch said a key theme of her Tory leadership pitch was to make sure the state interfered less with business.

Badenoch was asked if she thought maternity pay was at the right level.

She said: “Maternity pay varies, depending on who you work for – but statutory maternity pay is a function of tax, tax comes from people who are working.

“We’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.

“Businesses are closing, businesses are not starting in the UK, because they say that the burden of regulation is too high.”

She was then asked if her comments meant “maternity pay is excessive”.

Badenoch said: “I think it’s gone too far – too far the other way in terms of general business regulation.”

She added that “the exact amount of maternity pay in my view is neither here nor there.”

Statutory maternity pay starts at 90% of average weekly earnings for six weeks – then falls to the lowest of either £184.03 or 90% of the mother’s average salary for 33 weeks.

Kemi Badenoch is proudly outspoken and seeks to make a virtue out of saying things she thinks others are too meek to take on.

An example of that were her remarks this weekend that not all cultures are equally valid.

She has also repeatedly sought in this campaign to make an argument about broad principles, rather than specific policy promises.

What appears to have happened here is she has attempted to make a broad argument about the size and scope of government, while repeatedly being asked specific questions about maternity pay.

Following the interview, Badenoch posted on X: “Contrary to what some have said, I clearly said the burden of regulation on businesses had gone too far… of course I believe in maternity pay!”

She later followed this up with a second social media post, where she said: “Of course maternity pay isn’t excessive…no mother of 3 kids thinks that.”

Fellow Tory leadership candidate, Robert Jenrick told a Conservative Party fringe event that he did “not agree with Kemi on this one”.

Jenrick told Conservative Party members: “I am a father of three young daughters – I want to see them get the support that they need when they enter the workplace.

“Our maternity pay is among the lowest in the OECD. I think the Conservative Party should be firmly on the side of parents and working mums who are trying to get by.

“Nobody says it is easy having kids, why would we want to make it harder?”

Tom Tugendhat, who is also running to be the next leader of the party, said: “I think maternity and paternity care are very important.

“One of the things I missed out on, years ago is we didn’t have the same rights on paternity care and I think many of us, fathers would have loved to spend more time with our kids.”

The fourth Tory leadership candidate, James Cleverly, also rejected Badenoch’s claims.

He said: “When it comes to working mothers the cost of childcare is too expensive.”

Badenoch’s supporters are weighing in too, trying to cool things down.

Julia Lopez, the shadow culture minister who is backing Badenoch in the leadership race, described the row as a “confected maternity pile-on”.

“There is no-one in our party right now who knows more about the challenge of jockeying motherhood with professional life,” Lopez said.

“In both rhetoric and reality, Kemi has backed women [including] by supporting maternity pay and better childcare – yet we still have challenges.”

Her allies put the row down to what they see as a positive – “she doesn’t speak like a politician”, as one told the BBC.

But it is also true that her remarks were at best ambiguous and did suggest, even if inadvertently, that maternity pay had gone too far.