Tories want 50% of their general election candidates to be women

The Tories have set out an ‘ambition’ for women to make up half of their list of approved candidates for general elections.

Just 30 per cent of candidates on the current list are female.

The 50 per cent figure was announced by Tory chairman Brandon lewis, who said the party needed to do more to make sure its gender balance better reflects the society it seeks to represent.

Mr lewis said he was not imposing a quota or target or the introduction of allfemale shortlists, and said local Conservative associations would continue to have the final say in selections.

But he said in a speech: ‘We need the best people in our Parliament and in our party, representing their communities up and down the country. We will not achieve this if women are excluded and if their voices are not heard.

‘Right now, around 30 per cent of those on our approved candidates list are women. This is not enough. That’s why I am setting out an ambition here today – to have women make up 50 per cent of our candidates list.

‘This is not an easy ambition. But we have a duty to achieve it and I will personally work tirelessly to make this a reality.’ Women currently make up 21 per cent of Conservative MPs, compared with 45 per cent for labour. Mr lewis repeated his apology for breaking a pairing arrangement with liberal Democrat deputy leader Jo Swinson, who was unable to take part in a crunch Brexit vote because she was on maternity leave.

he said that two out of the three Conservative candidates selected so far for the general election expected in 2022 have been women. ‘This is a promising start,’ he said. ‘But in order to reach our ambition, we need to have a wider strategy.’

The party has commissioned research to help examine why women do not put themselves forward as candidates.