Tory rising star hints at all-women shortlists to the horror of party chiefs: Conservatives to consider controversial move if next election doesn't result in more female MPs

• All-women shortlists, already slammed at 'not an option'
• Only three out of 27 members of the Cabinet are women
• And only 13 per cent of Liberal Democrat MPs are female

By DANIEL MARTIN FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Published: 20:34 EST, 27 June 2014 | Updated: 09:51 EST, 30 June 2014

The Conservatives could consider all-women shortlists if the next election does not result in more female MPs, one of the party’s rising stars has said.

Nicky Morgan, who was recently appointed women’s minister and is tipped for promotion to the Cabinet, said no option is ‘off the table’.

But almost as soon as she made the comments on the Mumsnet parenting website, a senior Tory source said the idea was ‘categorically not an option’.

Nicky Morgan was recently appointed women's minister made the comments to parenting website Mumsnet

Mrs Morgan’s suggestion will be controversial with many among the Tory grassroots, who have strongly resisted all-women shortlists, saying local associations should be allowed to choose candidates freely.

David Cameron’s critics say he has a ‘women problem’ which intensified when he was pictured in the Commons with only men on his front bench. Only three out of 27 members of the Cabinet are women despite a pre-election pledge that a third would be.

Only 16 per cent of Conservative MPs are women whereas for Labour – the only major party with all-women shortlists – the tally is 33 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats have the worst record. Only 13 per cent of their MPs are female. Last month Nick Clegg suggested he would consider all-women shortlists unless things improved after 2015.

But Mrs Morgan’s comments are an indication that the plan is being considered by some senior Tories.

It is the first time she has set out her position on the issue since she became women’s minister in April. Asked about all-women shortlists by a Mumsnet user, Mrs Morgan said the party was taking the issue of women’s representation very seriously but too few female candidates were coming forward.

‘I think we need to see where we end up in 2015 and if we are still struggling to get more women MPs then no option is off the table,’ she said.

For the 2010 election Mr Cameron introduced an A-list of priority candidates for the most winnable seats which was roughly equally split between men and women, helping the party’s number of female MPs to rise from 17 to 48. That system was dropped after the election and only around a third of candidates selected to stand in 2015 are women.

Mr Cameron has been taunted by Labour for having a ‘women problem’ and was once accused of sexism for telling a female Labour frontbencher to ‘calm down, dear’. His government has also been accused of failing to support stay-at-home mums.

He is under increasing pressure from some Conservatives to consider all-women shortlists. Earlier this year ex-Cabinet minister Caroline Spelman, a former party chairman, said she wasn’t opposed to the idea.