68 of the current 331 Conservative MPs (20.5%) are women. Dave has just given a third of cabinet positions to women, thereby meeting his longstanding target – which only begs the obvious question:
If these women have been appointed on merit, why was there a need for a target?
Where next? A gender-balanced cabinet, as introduced by President Francois Hollande in France? That’s been a roaring success…
All else being equal, a female Conservative MP is 62% more likely than her male colleagues to be given a cabinet position. There must be numerous male Conservative MPs denied a cabinet position solely on the grounds of their gender. Not one has publicly said a word about the matter.