Maude: A-list yet to prove itself
David Cameron’s A-list of preferred candidates got a boost this weekend when two women were selected in Conservative target seats for the next general election.
But party chairman Francis Maude admitted the list, which is intended to get more women and people from ethnic minorities into target Tory seats, had still to prove its worth.
Until the selection of Harriett Baldwin and Karen Bradley this weekend, just ten of the 32 candidates chosen so far were women and just one was not white.
The A-list, made up of more women than men and ten per cent from ethnic minorities, was intended to improve the diversity of the Conservative party, but this morning Mr Maude admitted it had yet to have any major effect.
“It is very early days but the A-list isn’t good enough yet. There is no question about that,” he said.
“I have got no problem with the quality of the candidates, we have got excellent candidates in each of the seats selected. In terms of increasing their diversity we have not gone as far as we need to yet.”
Harriett Baldwin, who works for JP Morgan, was selected to stand for West Worcestershire. The incumbent is Michael Spicer, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs who had a majority of 2,475 at the last election.
Karen Bradley, who as a tax specialist has advised shadow chancellor George Osborne, has been picked to stand for Staffordshire Moorlands. This is currently held by Labour, but boundary changes mean it could well fall to the Tories at the next election.
On Friday, Labour chairwoman Hazel Blears launched a stinging attack on the A-list when a white man, Damian Collins, was selected to succeed Michael Howard in the safe Conservative seat of Folkestone and Hythe.
“The vacancy for the Folkestone seat presented David Cameron with a perfect opportunity to meet his own test of whether the Tories have really changed. It is a test they have failed,” she declared.
