Prue Leith says she is frequently attacked on social media over the views of her son, Conservative MP Danny Kruger.
The Great British Bake Off judge has two children with her late first husband, Rayne Kruger: filmmaker Li-Da and Danny, who has been the Tory MP for Devizes in Wiltshire since 2019.
Throughout his political career, Kruger has been outspoken about his views on subjects including assisted death, women’s right to bodily autonomy and the role of marriage in society.
At this year’s National Conservatism conference, he stated that marriage between men and women was “the only basis for a safe and successful society”.
In addition, Kruger is an evangelical Christian, while Leith is an atheist.
In a new interview with The Times, Leith, 83, gave some insight into the impact of having a Tory parliamentary figure as a son.
When asked whether she got attacked for her son’s beliefs, Leith replied: “All the time. Especially on evil Twitter. ‘How could you raise such a monster?’ He’s a Tory for goodness’ sake. Half the country are Tories – actually, not any more I don’t imagine,” she added.
In the Times interview, published on Friday (6 October), Leith reflected on how she and Danny confronted their different views on assisted dying during the filming of the Channel 4 programme, Prue and Danny’s Death Road Trip.
In the documentary, the mother and son visited Oregon, on the US West Coast, where doctor-assisted suicide is legal.
Prue Leith and Danny Kruger— (Getty / PA)
“I loved making that, not least because I never get to see Danny and we had two weeks together in America, which was lovely,” the cookery writer noted.
“We both thought there should be a programme about death which is not vitriolic, because in this argument, as with many issues, you have both sides shouting at each other and nobody’s listening.”
In terms of what she learned from her time discussing assisted dying with Kruger, Leith said that she has more understanding of his anxiety about the topic.
“I don’t think he needs to be [anxious] but I don’t think the world is as wicked as he thinks and that people will be forced into taking their own lives when they don’t want to,” she said.
When asked whether her son listened to her perspective, Leith replied: “In the sense he moved to agreeing I can at least top myself if I want to – if it was legal.”
In the programme, which aired in February, Leith accused her son of scaremongering over assisted dying.
