This evening I introduced the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, at a Women2Win event at which the Prime Minister also spoke.
Women2Win is a campaigning body founded by Theresa May and Baroness Anne Jenkin in 2005 to encourage more women to get involved in politics and become parliamentary candidates. Women2Win provides mentoring advice and practical support to aspiring female Conservative politicians. Many of the female Conservative MPs elected in 2010 and 2015 were supported by the group in some way.
There are currently 191 female MPs out of 650. The need to get more women into parliament is shown by the fact that there are still more men in this parliament than there have ever been female MPs. But it is not just about numbers or quotas but making a better parliament. I have noticed in my short time in parliament that female MPs initiate different types of parliamentary debates on topics that men wouldn’t necessarily raise. Women MPs listen more, ask more insightful and relevant questions and make more informed interventions than many male MPs - and parliament is a better place for this.
I recently appeared in the Women2Win video 'Daughters' to talk about my aspirations for my daughter Mackenzie.