Theresa May in those famous shoes

Wannabe MP Dawn Parry, chairman of Banwell Conservatives, North Somerset

Wannabe MP Zoe Wheddon, teaches in Hampshire

Tory women mean business, they are getting their act together. And there is no shortage of them wanting to stand as MPs. I met some of them last night at Westminster, and they have fire running through their veins.

The Conservative Women’s Organisation and Conservative Future joined forces for the first time and held a reception at Westminster hosted by Eleanor Laing MP.

Theresa May hot footed in wearing her famous leopardskin kitten heeled shoes after the heated Trident debate to talk about women and the feminisation of politics in the 21st century.

She was already speaking to a converted audience, the young and aspiring, the loyal and committed, all keen to transform the Party’s image and connect with the electorate, the groups they had failed to reach last year. It seems highly unlikely that Tory women MPs will become an endangered species! I just hope they won’t be labelled “Dave’s Babes”, I find that so patronising.

Theresa said: “There are only 17 Tory women MPs, we need more of you. I hope to see many of you standing in an election, coming back here as an MP. It’s events like this that will help to move our Party forward, recognise the changes that need to be done and have a Conservative government back in this country that will give us a better quality of life”.

Also there were Alan Duncan (we reminisced about his car accident in Ipswich during the election campaign last year), Bernard Jenkin (we had a heated debate about Tory MEPs withdrawal from the EPP) and Liam Fox (he asked me to remember him to “ace guy” Nick Carter who ran his press campaign during the leadership battle last year). And yes Nick, I wholeheartedly agree with you, Liam is a great guy, his wife is super too. I also met Sir Paul Judge (we shared similar views about Conservative issues). People were talking about his great parties.

Although we all enjoyed the networking opportunity, and the endless flow of Pimms, a number of us said we would have liked more speeches (Theresa’s was quite brief) and hear the details behind the feminisation strategy. I’m sure there will be other events like this, they will hopefully draw in the essential grassroot supporters and inspire them to work passionately in their communities where the crucial votes are.

And what did my friend Carol think of the overall image of today’s Tory woman? On the whole she was impressed, but would like to see Theresa wear a brighter colour around her face instead of black. And we both loved those shoes!