Angela Rayner has revealed she had to prepare her teenage children for a misogynistic article about her that was due to appear in a Sunday newspaper.
The deputy Labour leader said she has been "overwhelmed" by the support after anonymous Tory MPs accused her of deliberately trying to distract Prime Minister Boris Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs in the House of Commons.
Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum came to the Labour MPs defence following the article in the Mail on Sunday.
Rayner told Lorraine Kelly's ITV show that she was "crestfallen" when she heard the claims against her over the weekend.
She added: "I've been overwhelmed because when I heard of the story that was coming out we rebutted it instantly like 'this is disgusting, it's completely untrue, please don't run a story like that'.
"I was with my teenage sons and I felt really sad again that my weekend was spent preparing them for seeing things online.
"They don't want to see their mum portrayed that way and I felt really down about that but I was overwhelmed by people's responses.
"Is that what people think about what I do. The only thing I worry about is if I'm doing a good job and being able to do justice for my constituents.
"I was really crestfallen, but I felt really overwhelmed by the response afterwards because I felt really fearful of the story coming out thinking that's what people will think of me."
Rayner thanked the public for their support since the article was published on Sunday.
She said: "The response from the public, from all political parties from across the whole political spectrum has been to condemn it.
"I think that has heartened me."
Rayner suggested a wider "cultural shift" is needed following the row about her attire in the Commons.
"There's still so much more for us to do," she said.
"We have got to teach our sons to be respectful of women and we've got to teach our women to be confident about themselves as well."
Rayner wore a trouser suit for her appearance on the ITV show because she did not want to be "judged for what I wear".
"I wanted to be defiant as well, because I don't think that women should be told how to dress - but I didn't want to distract from the fact that, actually, it's not about my legs.
"I didn't want people at home thinking 'Let's have a look to see what her legs are like and how short her skirt is or not'.
"Because I feel like I'm being judged for what I wear, rather than what I'm saying to you and how I come across."
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