Britain has slipped ignominiously out of the top 50 nations for women’s political representation, strengthening calls for all-woman shortlisting (AWS).

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?
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