Local Parliamentary Candidate Hits Back At Times Article

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Which claimed Tories had made no improvement getting more women into Parliament

Mary Macleod, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Brentford & Isleworth, has responded to The Times article printed yesterday which stated that the Conservative Party had made no improvement in getting more women into Parliament.

The article stated that 69 of selected parliamentary candidates are women. In fact 80 women have been selected, most selected in winnable constituencies. If the Conservatives are elected with an overall majority of just one seat they will have 55 Conservative female MPs. More than a threefold increase over the current number of 17 female MPs.

The article also stated that there were only seven women in the Shadow Cabinet. Given there are only 17 female MPs women, this means that more than 40% of our female MPs are in the Shadow Cabinet. This is a sign of how committed to women’s advancement David Cameron is.

Mary commented, “I have fought long and hard to get more women into roles in public life and Parliament. No-one though should be given a role just because of their gender or race. It should be because they are the best person for the job with the right skills and experience. We want the best men and women in the Shadow Cabinet so that they can deliver much needed change for our country.

"There is naturally more to be done of course to increase female representation at all levels of public life. The Conservative Party has overhauled its selection procedures and made great strides in the selection of women candidates. There is a greater challenge ahead and that is to encourage more women to come forward to stand for election – both locally and nationally."

Her letter to The Times was sent in behalf of all female Conservative Parliamentary Colleagues including Ealing Central & Acton's Angie Bray.

April 29, 2009