The A List works

Iain Dale posts the following facts on his excellent blog:

At the last General Election just 19% of target and Conservative held seats (where the former MP was retiring) had women candidates. Just 11% of the 2005 intake were women.

FACTS
Proportion of women selected of all candidates (29 of 80): 36.25%
Proportion of women selected since A-list (24 of 58): 41.4%
Proportion of women selected before A-list (7 of 22): 31.8%

And finally..... 11 out of 20 in Tory held or notionally Tory (post boundary changes) have selected women.

I think this is a slam dunk case for the Tory candidate A list.

Comments

[John Hirst]

Has Iain considered having a sex change operation? It might increase his chances of selection. On the other hand, being neither one nor the other he might capitalise on the great undecided vote. This swings either way...

[Ross]

"I think this is a slam dunk case for the Tory candidate A list."

Only you believe that having more women candidates is so important that it outweighs every other argument against the A List, such as the extreme cemtralisation of power in the hands of Central office and the tendancy to pick people who will be popular in Notting Hill but not so much in places like the West Midlands where the Conservative party needs to make serious advances.

[billy]

Has Iain considered having a sex change operation? It might increase his chances of selection. On the other hand, being neither one nor the other he might capitalise on the great undecided vote. This swings either way...

Posted by: John Hirst | Thursday, 23 November 2006 at 04:01 PM

Neither one nor the other? Really? Thereis an inbetween state is there? Another minority group to collect grants and be promoted beyond their ability. How exciting! This used to be the preserve of the nutty left and now it is Toryism.

[SDPhobic]

Let's *do* hope Danny gets on to the A list, white, male, Oxbridge-educated and middle class as he is.

[Devil's Kitchen]

"I think this is a slam dunk case for the Tory candidate A list."

Er, only if you believe that selecting women should take priority over whether someone is the best person for the job, regardless of sex.

DK