Cameron's all-female shortlists create "second-class citizens"

"I passionately believe that every woman in Parliament has got the right to look every man in Parliament, from the Prime Minister downwards, in the eye and to know that she got there on exactly the same basis as he got there.

"If she can't, she becomes a second-class citizen. I don't want second-class citizens on the benches of the Conservative Party."

Mr Cameron's earlier pledge to force local associations to field female candidates marked a significant shift for the party leadership. Previously, he had refused to endorse such a strategy despite his bid to increase female representation on the Tory benches.

Appearing before a Parliamentary inquiry into the lack of diversity in the Commons, he admitted many of the party's preferred female A-list candidates had been overlooked.

He said he hoped he would have "nearly 60" women Tory MPs after the next election - up from 19 now - in the event of a one-seat Conservative majority.

But that was less than half of the 120 to 140 women MPs that Prime Minister Gordon Brown projected for Labour - the only party so far to adopt all-women shortlists.

Mr Cameron told the Speaker's Conference that the under-representation of women and black and ethnic minorities was a particular problem for the Conservative Party.

"It's a real problem for Parliament and it's been an even greater problem for my party, and one that I desperately want to address and have tried to address," he said.

Mr Cameron said the situation was "bad for politics" and that he would do "frankly whatever is necessary" to tackle the problem.

From January, Conservative Central Office would be providing the party's constituency associations with a shortlist of candidates from which to choose, he said.

"It's my intention, if we continue as we are, that some of those shortlists will be all-women shortlists to help us boost the number of Conservative women MPs."

Mr Cameron said that, as a result of his efforts since becoming leader in 2005, 29% of Tory candidates were now women.

But he added: "There are many very, very good women on our priority list of candidates who haven't yet been selected and I want to give them the chance to serve in Parliament."

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said he too would consider introducing all women shortlists, but only if the party's total of women MPs did not improve at the next election.

He insisted they were not a "panacea" and said he did not want his party's leadership to greater powers to impose candidates on constituencies.

Mr Clegg also acknowledged that his party was "woefully unrepresentative of modern Britain" with no black or Asian MPs.

"That is a source of real, real regret to me and needs to change. I am hopeful it will change and change dramatically," he said.

The Prime Minister was forced to deny that his Cabinet was too heavily reliant on white Scottish men.

Appearing first out of the three party leaders before Commons Speaker John Bercow's committee, Mr Brown faced tough questioning from Labour backbencher Parmjit Dhanda.

Mr Dhanda pointed out that before Mr Brown became Prime Minister in 2007 there were two ethnic minority members of the Cabinet.

"There are none now, yet there are four white, Scottish men. Do you think this an acceptable state of affairs?" Mr Dhanda asked.

A seemingly discomfited Mr Brown replied that there was a "wider picture" to consider.

"There are people who sit at the Cabinet table who do not necessarily hold a full departmental responsibility but are equally important to the running of the government," he said.

"I would say that there are seven women sitting round the Cabinet table, you have the first Asian cabinet minister sitting at the Cabinet table, representing issues of transport.

"At the same time you have the Attorney General who is the first black Attorney General and a very successful one at that."

Mr Brown was previously accused of sexism by former housing minister Caroline Flint, who quit the government in June, saying he was running a "two-tier" Cabinet where women were treated as "window dressing".

Although Ms Flint attended Cabinet, she was never a full member.

Mr Brown also warned there was a danger that the proposed reforms of the MPs' pay and expenses could prevent people on lower incomes entering politics.

"If the final conclusion of all the various reviews, including the Legg and then the Kelly review, were to give the impression that the only people who could afford to become Members of Parliament were people who had very substantial incomes... in the first place, before they are considered as representatives, then that would be a very big blow to the opportunities and possibilities of those from poorer backgrounds, low-income backgrounds and backgrounds where there are huge barriers to overcome to get into Parliament," he said.

Mr Brown re-affirmed his party's commitment to extending legal provision for all-women shortlists to 2030 and for there to be a majority of black and Asian candidates in certain constituencies.

He also pledged more support for disabled people and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in getting into Parliament.

The Prime Minister urged Mr Bercow to allow civil partnerships to be held within Parliament for the first time. Conventional weddings already take place.

Mr Brown said he was proud of the progress that had been made since he entered Parliament in 1983, when the Commons was all white and there were only 23 women MPs.

But he went on: "We have not done enough yet to address under-representation in our society. Seen from the outside, Parliament is not yet fit for the 21st century."