ANDREA Leadsom crashed and burned tonight with a rambling performance when she was trying to convince MPs to vote for her in the Tory leadership contest.

She said she wanted to discuss the "three Bs": "Bankers, Brussels and babies."

3 Andrea Leadsom's pledges at hustings included building a freight train service from Dover to Edinburgh

"She was rambling, ended up talking about the frontal cortex of a baby's brain," according to one MP present: "this was meant to be an application to be the next PM not a childhood development officer".

Another MP added: "she's not my candidate but she went down like a cup of cold sick."

"She lost the room. People we're talking to each other and playing on their iPads. She was very rambling," they added.

One cabinet minister said: "only four out of the five contributions we heard tonight were sane."

There was also concern Mrs Leadsom had pledged to build a freight train service from Dover to Edinburgh and changed her position on Article 50.

3 Brexiteer Michael Gove hopes he will be the next PM and lead the negotiations to get the UK out of the EU Credit: Getty Images

In stark contrast to Leadsom, Michael Gove was praised for putting in an "articulate and impressive performance” as Tories grilled him about why he should be the next party leader.

He was first up at a hustings session in Parliament where the 330 Tory MPs quizzed the five leadership candidates.

It was held behind closed doors but our sources say they talked about farming and agriculture as well as the issue of freedom of movement.

One Tory MP explained: “We are English” when asked why no-one brought up the issue of Gove and Boris Johnson.

A Gove supporting minister said it was an “articulate and impressive performance”.

Tory deputy chairman Rob Halfon walked out of the over-flowing committee room after just a few minutes, saying: "That's one place where we do need more freedom of movement.

“You can hardly breathe in there.”

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A spokesman for Theresa May said: "there were difficult questions but nothing too difficult for Theresa to answer".

She was greeted by loud banging on tables and walls, and even cracked a joke.

When Tory backbencher Geoffrey Clifton Brown asked her to set out a detail economic forecast she hit back: "there is always one."

3 Stephen Crabb told Theresa May it was not morally right to use people as a bargaining chip Credit: AP

The Home Secretary stuck to her line that EU citizens could be under threat of deportation, saying "this is a negotiation."

But she was blasted by opponent Stephen Crabb who told MPs that it was not "morally right" to use people as a bargaining chip.

Rank outside Crabb admitted after his grilling that he was "a little nervous" facing his colleagues but "there was a lot of good will in that room, a lot of support".

He claimed he got the biggest cheers for claiming the leadership race must not be a rerun of the referendum.

"Do not make this about leave and remain, or the party will split" he told his colleagues.