Leadsom backed the campaign to leave the European Union and said that now Brexit had been voted for, European leaders would be pragmatic in their approach and would choose to maintain trade links with Britain.
"I firmly believe all European countries are democratically elected, political institutions who will not either act in an illegal or in an unfair way. They will take pragmatic decisions that are in the interest of their people and our people," she told reporters as she launched her leadership candidacy.
"Again, democratically elected European parliaments will take pragmatic decisions about what's in their interest and they will choose to give tariff-free access to the UK. That will not be, I don't think, a bargaining chip around free movement."