David Cameron battles to boost number of women Tory MPs

David Cameron has ordered his party chairman to get more women into winnable Conservative seats in 2015.

The move comes amid growing concern at the top of Tory party that the number of its female MPs could drop in the next election.

The prime minister has set Grant Shapps the task after only two of nine safe seats being vacated by men selected female candidates.

The next tranche of seats where retiring MPs have majorities of more than 5,000 are being selected in the coming weeks.

Senior women in the party had hoped that local Conservative associations would replace retiring male MPs with female candidates to boost their numbers on Mr Cameron's benches. The prime minister managed to expand the number of Tory women from 17 to 49 in the last election and had hoped to build on that success next year.

But instead, the safe seats are being snapped up by men. Mr Cameron has privately acknowledged the problem and is prepared to encourage more "voluntary" all-women shortlists after the 2015 election if the number of women does fall, according to senior party insiders.

Meanwhile, senior women in the party are also starting to speak out about the need for more women in parliament.

Maria Miller, former culture secretary and women's minister, said on Sunday that the party might be forced to introduce all-women shortlists, having told the Financial Times in April that she opposed this idea.

"At his point, I don't think we need to go that far but I certainly wouldn't rule out all-women shortlists if we don't make the progress that we need to, because as a party, just like a parliament, we need to make sure we are connected to the electorate," Ms Miller said.

Her remarks come after Nicky Morgan, the new women's minister, said in a Mumsnet discussion that the party would have to consider all-women shortlists if no progress is made at the next election.

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However, a handful of associations have had all-women finals - for example Cannock Chase and North Norfolk - in recent selections.

Of 14 seats where Tory MPs are retiring, five women have been selected - two of those are replacing existing female MPs. Only 16 per cent of the Tory benches are made up of women, against 33 per for Labour, which has pioneered all-women shortlists.

While the selections for safe seats have frustrated those pushing for more women on the Tory benches, Conservative party figures argue that the wider picture is more positive, with women chosen in nearly a third of the 90 seats selected so far.

Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the opposition Labour party, said last week that all-women shortlists were "the only thing that worked" to boost female representation. She told her Tory colleagues they would have to adopt similar radical measures to bring about change.

A group of MPs will on Monday issue recommendations to try to encourage more women into parliament. The Women in Parliament group, led by Tory Mary Macleod, is recommending that parliament debate "prescriptive quotas for Westminster.

"Quotas in politics are not universally accepted: indeed only the Labour party has used them in the form of all women shortlists for parliamentary selection. That said, given the 'fast-track' results that often arise from their introduction, it would be useful for the House to find time to debate prescriptive quotas for Westminster."

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