Liz Kendall
Liz Kendall told a Daily Mail political reporter to 'f**k off' after he brought up her weight in an interview Neil Hall/Reuters

Labour leader contender Liz Kendall told that the Daily Mail reporter to "f**k off!" after bringing up the topic of her weight in an interview.

Journalist Simon Walters wrote on Sunday 19 July: "In fact, she looks the same weight as the Duchess [Kate Middleton] – about 8st – though when I ask she slaps me down with a raucous 'f**k off!' , adding quickly: 'Don't print that.'"

Walters went ahead and published Kendall's reply – including her request that it is not published.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live's Pienaar's Politics the Leicester West MP reacted to the article saying that she "cannot wait for a world when women are judged the same as men".

Liz Kendall's picture painted by the Mail on Sunday

Kendall maintains her lithe figure by jogging 20 miles a week. On Saturday nights she loves to dance to rap music at discos with friends. When I arrived for the interview she was still getting ready: "Hold on, just putting on some lippy." She is wearing emerald green suede high heels from LK Bennett. I ask how much they cost. "About £100 I think." The LK Bennett website says they are £195.

Her jacket, navy blue 'vest' and trousers are from Reiss. LK Bennett and Reiss are two of the Duchess of Cambridge's favourite fashion brands – and slinky brunette Liz, or Elizabeth Louise, to give her full Royal-sounding Christian names, looks as good in them as slinky brunette Kate. In fact she looks the same weight as the Duchess – about 8st – though when I ask she slaps me down with a raucous "f*** off!", adding quickly: "Don't print that."

Source: Mail on Sunday

"I just think it's unbelievable that in the 21st Century women still get asked such very, very different questions from men," she said

"Can you imagine the Mail on Sunday asking the weight of the prime minister, George Osborne or any other leading politician?"

In 2014, reporter Simon Walters had raised the issue of weight with the with the chancellor George Osborne, in a Mail on Sunday interview, who described how he had "lost a couple of stone" on the 5:2 diet.

Reaction on social media criticise the Daily Mail for its sexism:

Leicester West MP Ms Kendall is running against Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership.

This isn't the first time Kendall has faced sexist pressure in public during the leadership campaign.

Supporters of Yvette Cooper were accused of trying to win votes by highlighting the fact that Kendall does not have any children.

In an article for the Huffington Post, Backbench MP Helen Goodman wrote that she would be supporting Yvette Cooper's candidacy, and that being a parent to two children was "much more important" than her political career.

"As a working mum, she understands the pressures on modern family life," Goodman wrote.

Kendall is irked that the leadership contest has drawn attention to the fact that she is childless and has never married.

More about the Labour leadership contest