Widdecombe criticises Cameron's MP recruitment
21st August 2009
Veteran Tory MP Ann Widdecombe has criticised David Cameron's new approach to selecting parliamentary candidates.
Speaking to Total Politics, the former Home Office minister claimed that the new selection procedure is 'misguided' and will impact on the quality of candidates.
The Conservative Party claimed recently that its party candidate selection has been broadened under David Cameron in a bid to attract people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
However, Ms Widdecombe believes that this could be at the expense of attracting the best candidates for the job.
She still believes David Cameron is a 'fantastic leader' despite disagreements about his approach to recruiting women and ethnic minorities into parliament.
She said: 'I believe, as a woman, that every woman in parliament should be able to look every man from the prime minister downwards in the eye and to think she got there on exactly the same basis that he got there.'
Miss Widdecombe recently claimed that she would be happy to appear on the next series of BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing if she were asked.
La Toya Jackson and Phil Tufnell are among the other high-profile celebrities to have shown an interest in taking part in the competition.