Earlier today, while launching three new Tory posters, David Cameron celebrated Tory progress in candidate diversity.
"We’ve changed our Party. Some people said we couldn’t do it – but as we go into this election, we’ve got more women candidates than ever in our history, not just in all seats but in the seats that we need to win to form a majority......and almost the same proportion of black and minority ethnic candidates as there are in the country as a whole.
I’m really proud that young black men and women in Britain today wondering if this really is a society in which they can get to the very top, that they can look at Tory Party... yes the Tory Party with Shaun Bailey in Hammersmith, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones in Cheltenham, Kwazi Kwarteng in Spelthorne, Helen Grant in Maidstone and now Sam Gyimah in Surrey East......and say yes, they made it to the top, I can make it to the top too.
I’m so proud that young British Muslims who may too often these days feel that instead of doors opening for them they’re being shut in their faces... that they can look at the Tory party, the Tory party with Sayeeda Warsi in the Shadow Cabinet, Sajid Javid in Bromsgrove, Zahid Iqbal in Bradford West... and say yes, I am a Muslim, I’m British and I’m as welcome at the top of this society as anyone else in Britain.
And just in case there is anyone out there who still thinks that the work we’ve done to get more women candidates, more black and minority ethnic candidates... that this is some kind of political correctness that Conservatives should avoid.I would say no. You’re wrong. It is in the best traditions of our Party... the one nation tradition of Benjamin Disraeli, and it should inspire us again today. Unless you can represent everyone in our country you cannot be a one nation party. And that one nation tradition lives on in the Conservative Party not just in the candidates we’re selecting but in the issues that we’re addressing too."
Read the full speech.
Before Sam Gyimah's weekend selection, Jonathan Isaby calculated the progress in candidate diversity in a post last week.
Tim Montgomerie