A Tory leadership frontrunner made a bizarre quip saying she "has no willy" in a barbed reference to trans issues.
Penny Mordaunt, who polling suggests is the most popular candidate among grassroots members, quoted Margaret Thatcher as she addressed the divisive issue.
Speaking in a sweaty room in central London, the 49-year-old former defence secretary made repeated references to a matter which threatens to overshadow the race for Number 10.
She told party activists and journalists: "Let me deal with the issue that is floating in the background there.
"I think it was Margaret Thatcher who said that every Prime Minister needs a willy. A woman like me doesn't have one."
She then addressed the issue again later in her speech, stating: "I can tell you if you have been in the Royal Navy and competed against men, you know the difference between men and women."
She is the latest candidate to use the issue as a wedge to gain support in her bid to become Prime Minister.
Elsewhere she admitted that the Conservatives had lost their way, likening it to Paul McCartney's set at Glastonbury last month - and ruled out a snap General Election.
"He was playing new tunes but what we really wanted was the good old stuff," she said, saying her focus would be on “low tax, small state, personal responsibility”.
The candidate said: "We have to admit that Whitehall is broken."
And she bragged to loud cheers among supporters: "I am the candidate that Labour fear the most."
Ms Mordaunt said that her policies would include a childcare budget for families, but admitted this would not include more money from the Treasury.
"It's the same amount of money but we're going to stop telling parents how to spend it," she said.
"We don't have to spend more money to deliver these services, we just have to do them in a better way."
The candidate said every child would have access to their entitlement to subsidised child care at any time prior to them starting school.
She brushed off questions about whether she would call a snap general election, arguing that having stood on the same platform as Mr Johnson and other Tories in the 2019 election "we have a mandate and a big majority".
Ms Mordaunt added that her plans would include forming partnerships with businesses and charities to provide vital support.
She said that her key economic policy would be that debt as a percentage of GDP would fall "over time" - but she did not specify how long this would take.
Referring to Boris Johnson, she held back from lavishing praise, but said the Prime Minister deserved kudos for delivering Brexit.
"I am very different from Boris Johnson but we are still on the same manifesto, and I think we both believe in the same things."
A survey of grassroots members found Ms Mordaunt is the favourite among the Tory faithful, getting the backing of nearly 20%.
She was closely followed by Kemi Badenoch, with Rishi Sunak knocked back to third place.
Her campaign got off to a disastrous start after she released a video featuring figures without their permission including Paralymic hero Jonny Peacock, who asked for it to be removed.
The botched video sparked outcry as it also featured murdered Labour MP Jo Cox and killer Oscar Pistorious.
