TORY leadership hopeful Andrea Leadsom has admitted she smoked cannabis in the past.
“Everyone is entitled to a private life before becoming an MP. I smoked weed at university and have never smoked it again since.”
The revelation comes just a day after another contender for the leader of the Conservatives, Michael Gove, revealed he had taken cocaine “on several occasions” more than 20 years ago.
The Environment Secretary, 51, told the Daily Mail: "I took drugs on several occasions at social events more than 20 years ago.
"At the time I was a young journalist. It was a mistake. I look back and think 'I wish I hadn't done that'."
WEED ALL ABOUT IT
Dominic Raab, who is also in the leadership battle, said this morning that the confession by Mr Gove should not rule him out of the race to be the next Prime Minister.Raab, who previously admitted using cannabis as a student, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm not going to cast any further aspersions on Michael or anyone else who is just honest about being human and doing the things that some young people do - not everyone, obviously - and holding their hand up and saying 'I got that wrong, move on'."
The International Development Secretary Rory Stewart also issued an apology earlier this week after he confessed to smoking opium at a wedding in Iran 15 years ago.
He told Sky News: “It was something that was very wrong, I made a stupid mistake."
Even the Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said tried cannabis in his youth.
Mr Hunt told The Times he had tried a “cannabis lassi” while he was travelling in India.
Boris Johnson is still the frontrunner to win the Tory leadership battle with Ladbrokes currently offering odds of 1/2 for the old Etonian.
Mr Johnson admitted in a GQ interview in 2007 he had tried cocaine and cannabis while at Oxford university.
I smoked weed at university and have never smoked it again since
He said: "I tried it at university and I remember it vividly. And it achieved no pharmacological, psychotropic or any other effect on me whatsoever."Andrea Leadsom, MP
His story though was changed later when he appeared on an edition of Have I Got News For You when he said: "I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed and so it did not go up my nose. In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar.”
Speaking about his experiences with cannabis, he said: “There was a period before university when I had quite a few (cannabis joints). It was jolly nice. But apparently it is very different these days.
Much stronger.
“I've become very illiberal about it. I don't want my kids to take drugs.
Labour politicians have also confessed to using cannabis when they younger.
Yvette Cooper, who was housing minister at the time, said cannabis use at university was “something that I have left behind".
Andy Burnham, who is now the mayor of Greater Manchester, has also confessed to smoking the drug in the past.
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