Newly elected women MPs in the Czech Republic proudly display their femininity and sex appeal in come-to-bed poses for a racy new 2011 calendar. In the May election, women won more seats than every before during their national elections in late May when 44 women were voted into the lower house, a proportional increase from 17% to 22%.

The calendar was produced by the Public Affairs party, a new formation on the Czech political scene described as a conservative liberal party and is intended to highlight the presence of women in Czech politics; I don’t see how these glamour pics help their cause.

Is it something our political parties might ponder on producing too? Certainly not, the MPs would instantly be labelled as “window dressing”;  remember the furore following Caroline Flint in that red dress! We struggle in this country to accept that women parliamentarians can be stunningly attractive and taken seriously, particularly by the media.

How can these women hope to be taken seriously posing like this? Why couldn’t the pics had shown them at work in their parliamentary offices or constituency instead of posing on a bed? But then I guess sale figures would be far fewer. And how fair is this calendar to women MPs whose looks don’t match up to theses glamour pusses?

The pic on the left shows Katerina Klasnova MP, the vice speaker who is featured in January, and on the right is Karolina Peake MP, an anti-corruption campaigner and lawyer who represents a Prague constituency, and graces the month of July.