Which Camerettes will be in the cabinet if the Tories win?
"What David Cameron wants is an administration front bench. Women are easier to control, especially when they are new." Late Monday evening the gossip on the back benches was of David Cameron's pledge to give a third of jobs in his first government to women.
Many, not just the men, were unhappy. "The nature of the ministerial role will change," said one. There were many comparisons with what Blair did in '97. "Blair's lot were note-speakers. Much easier to get a grateful woman who will not rock the boat than a testosterone-fuelled man." There was further debate on whether the leader would pose "à la Blair" for a Cameron's babes photo-op. The only solid conclusion was that triumphant Camerettes in 2009 or 2010 will certainly be better dressed.
Behind every safe seat is a gaggle of Tories discussing if X or Y was chosen for being a woman. Conservative Home, the Tory website of choice, is inundated with comments every time a can didate is selected; when the seat is a safe one, the traffic trebles. The recent selection in ultra-safe Maidstone of Helen Grant (taking over from Ann Widdecombe) was met in certain circles with raised eyebrows.
It is not entirely unsurprising that a few of the women likely to win seats had mixed reactions to Cameron's cabinet plans. As one female candidate put it: "You wouldn't walk into a law firm and suddenly be made a partner. But I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. If David offered me a ministerial role, premature promotion or not, I'd be mad to turn it down, wouldn't I?"
Tracey Crouch, the candidate for Chatham and Aylesford, says admirably: "I want to serve my time on the back benches. I have political experience [she worked for David Davis] but I accept I will need to learn the procedures. My opponent was recently made a minister and that has affected the amount of time he can spend in the constituency."
There is already a presence from the young bunch who entered parliament in 2005, a good year for smart nice guys with hair, many of whom are contemporaries of the leader. Cam eron is aware that there are some excellent minds among the 2009-2010 gang. The lure of a kindergarten parliament will be tempting.
Women2Win, set up to increase the number of Conservative female MPs and encourage party members to select women for winnable seats, has fallen by the wayside lately. Its director, Lorraine Fullbrook, displays very little Girl Power and gives this drippy reaction: "We help women to help themselves. The composition of the next Conservative cabinet is a decision for David Cameron to take."
Launched with great aplomb with that terribly modern "2", Women2Win held many well-attended parties and workshops for female candidates. A senior Tory woman says: "It's a shame there's been so little activity over the past few months. There were some good ideas and we had promising support from Cameron. I would have preferred it if, instead of planning the number of females in his cabinet, he was working to make politics more accessible to women at all levels."
The party vice-chairman Kulveer Ranger is cautious. "Obviously it's safe to assume if you are going to be an MP you probably want a ministerial job. I'd love to see more women in the Conservative Party and the front bench particularly, but let's not spoil it by having anyone out of their depth too early. Look what happened to William Hague. We pushed too far, too early."
Among the women to whom Cameron gave shadow ministerial positions, there has not been much palpable action. Some have proved rather more stagnant than others. The woman who appears to have made the most progress politically and in terms of profile is Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid Bedfordshire. Recently she has been profiled (again) in a national newspaper, has produced two minority reports, on special needs and abortion, and she is well on the way to changing the law on the number of weeks after which a termination can be carried out. Nadine has done all this from the comfort of the back benches. Who needs a ministerial role to make a difference?
Handing over a third of senior government jobs to females appears odd when it is widely known that Caroline Spelman, the party chairman, believes everybody should have gained experience from a full parliamentary term before taking on a ministerial role.
At present there are 17 female Conservative MPs, 11 of whom David Cameron has promoted. On the basis of Cameron's commitment and Spelman's theory about experience, one could assume that these are the women who will play a significant role should there be a Tory government in 2009 or 2010.
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