All political parties have had the option to use AWS following the the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002, but only Labour has taken this up. Consequently, 77 per cent of female MPs are from the Labour party.

High levels of female and other descriptive elected representation are associated with reduced corruption, reduced bureaucracy, and spending priorities reflective of the community being represented. So why have Davids Cameron and Davis refused to consider AWS when outlining their visions of the future of the Conservative party?

The oft-cited defense to Tory failures to institute AWS is ‘meritocracy’. It is fondly imagined by the phalanx of grey-suited Tory MPs that they have attained their seats in government and opposition on the basis of their raw talents, rather than by the grace of a selection process that thwarts their kitten-heeled sisters at every turn. It is difficult to explain to someone who is holding the reins of power that this may, in part, be because of the contents of his pants rather than his character.

Of course, this delusion about ‘meritocracy’ is not confined to male Tories. A letter to the Telegraph from a number of women Tory activists contained this piece of received wisdom:

Meritocracy is one of the principles of Conservatism. How can we Conservatives persuade the electorate that we believe in freedom, devolving power to the lowest possible level and opposing political correctness, when the party runs its own internal affairs in exactly the opposite way?

A genuine political meritocracy would be representative of the general population, because it would include people from all genders and communites and would exclude only those without merit. It would not recruit only those with access to informal, male-dominated networks. It would not exclude those with caring responsibilities, or who weren’t heterosexual. It wouldn’t make comments about being a “normal, family man” when promoting one candidate over another.

A more pertinent question to those Conservatives who invoke the rhetoric of meritocracy might inquire how they are going to deliver meritocracy to the UK, when they can’t deliver it within their own party?