Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat made a bizarre quip about his mother as he launched his campaign this morning.
He joked that he "should have chosen" his mum when asked about his dual nationality.
Mr Tugendhat, who holds dual British and French citizenship, was asked what he had learned from having dual national status.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee responded: "I think the first thing I learned from being a dual national is that I should have chosen my mother better when I decided to go into politics."
Met with awkward laughter he added: "There's only so many things I can change - that's not one of them."
It is not the first time Mr Tugendhat has responded to a question with a joke since launching his campaign to succeed Boris Johnson.
The former soldier was asked by Sky News' Sophy Ridge at the weekend what the "naughtiest" thing he had ever done was.
He responded "I invaded a country once" - a reference to his service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The backbencher is one of 10 candidates in the running to be Boris Johnson's successor after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps dropped out this morning to back Rishi Sunak.
He currently has 13 public backers, including Damian Green and Anne-Marie Trevelyan,
Mr Tugendhat said the two candidates who make it through to the final stage of the leadership contest must be prepared to go the distance.
When Theresa May became leader, her rival Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the race, meaning Mrs May was elected unopposed.
He said: "The Conservative Party is going to need an election after this to hold our party together.
"There is no way that anyone who makes it to the last two should either offer or accept a compromise that goes behind the back of Conservative Party members."
He also dismissed criticism of his lack of ministerial experience after Dominic Raab said it was "no time to learn on the job".
Mr Tugendhat said: "The reality is that the job of prime minister is unlike every other job in government.
"It's not a management job, it's not a departmental job. It's a job that demands vision and leadership, it demands a willingness to serve and to throw everything in the duty of serving the British people.
"This is no time to learn. What this is, is a time to look at a record of service and a record of delivery in some of the most difficult and trying conditions around the world, and to see that this isn't learning on the job, this is putting all that experience to work on the job."
