All women finals on merit are now happening regularly with fantastic female Conservative candidates being chosen more and more.
Three recent examples on retirement seats are worth noting
- last week in Faversham Helen Whately was chosen from a field of 4 women all selected on merit
- in Banbury in December Victoria Prentis was selected from another great selection of 4 women
- in Bury St Edmunds Jo Churchill was selected in a final of 3 women and James cleverly.
Not every seat is doing this but the fact is very significant
This is a genuine sea change as outstanding female candidates are firstly coming forward, and the party is choosing them on merit. Many congratulations to all the team and supporters of Women2Win, and most importantly the candidates themselves.
On the wider economy it is worth noting that since 2010, the gender pay gap has been almost eliminated for women under the age of 40 who are working full-time: 68.5% of women are employed — meaning that there are now more women in work than at any point in history. Every FTSE 100 company now has a woman on the board and mothers have more choice about whether to go back to work.
