David Cameron's Women Trouble: Ann Widdecombe, The Vagenda And Others Give Tips For The PM

Make Tampons Free And Stop Treating Women Like Wenches: Tips For David Cameron
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Women of Britain, your prime minister needs you - to vote for him.

David Cameron's unfortunate Q&A with Glamour, which attracted a deluge of tweets ridiculing the prime minister, is just the latest in a string of poor attempts to win female voters over.

The full question and answer session from Wednesday's interview was swiftly hijacked by jokers wondering: "Prime minister, if you were a shade of lip gloss, what colour would you be?".

Earlier this month evidence emerged that public spending cuts were alienating Tory women due to the high number of jobs being lost, and Cameron has been criticised for a series of other policies that hit women hardest.

The Tory leader has also been lambasted for telling Labour's Angela Eagle to "calm down dear" and was accused for patronising Nadine Dorries when he said the MP was getting frustrated during a PMQs session.

Cameron's attempt at improving his image only made things worse when he hired a "women's tsar" in November last year - which instead of boosting his ratings ended up being described as tokenism.

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David Cameron speaking to business women (women not pictured)

With this in mind the Huffington Post UK asked six high profile women what advice they would give the PM to appeal to young women (barring promoting more of them in his next reshuffle). And yes, Cameron, we're offering this advice for free.

Rhiannon, co-editor of the Vagenda

"David Cameron hasn't much hope of ever appealing to young women I'm afraid. He comes from a world that is completely alien to most of us. Unless he changes his personality (and policies) I can't see him gaining popularity. Saying that, perhaps if he made tampons free on the NHS, made it easier to access emergency contraception and stopped scrapping benefits we'd take more notice. Also he should stop trying to be seen as cool and 'down with the kids.' It's mortifying and makes us cringe."

Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary-Elect

“My advice to the Prime Minister would be get out and meet some real families and try to understand the huge pressures they’re under as they take hit after hit from an economic crisis they did nothing to cause.

“Listen to the women who fear losing their jobs, or those who are working part time because they can’t find full time work. Or to the women who worry their teenage sons and daughters will never find paid work. Or to those who see the local services they rely upon cut one by one and those who find it difficult to sleep at night because the family budget can stretch only so far.

“Listen to women, respect what they say and be big enough to change course. ”

Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP and shadow foreign office minister

"Somebody said to me 'he should visit a women's refuge' but it would just be such a hideously patronising thing to do. If it looks like you're doing it just to win women over it doesn't work at all. The main thing is just to stop patronising women. It's reigning in that sort-of upper-class toff thing, treating women like serving wenches."

Ann Widdecombe, former Tory MP

"I don't think you have to do anything with one particular group. If your policies are right they are right they are right for everybody.

"I think we're pursuing the right policies. They're inevitability going to be a bit unpopular but they need to get the economy right.

"I'm not happy with House of Lords reform, I'm not happy with gay marriage, but I think we're doing the right thing on the economy."

Comedian Susan Calman

"What can David Cameron do to appeal to women? Get himself a dog that dances. That's the only thing which can save him. A dancing dog.

"And he could enter Britain's Got Talent when he's voted out in the next election. It's a win/win. Although the dog might not be so keen."

Tamsin Kelly, editor of parentdish.co.uk

"We may be used to politicians' talking in sound bites but David Cameron went a step too far with the dim idea that you can live tweet and blog on issues that keep many women awake at night, like how to afford childcare and work. Once again he showed himself to be a patronising, patrician plonker. Nevertheless some of the Twitter goading was just as irritating - 'glamour readers? surely an oxymoron'.

"I think the best way he could appeal to women would be to just keep quiet, just for a little bit, and stop trying to prove he's one of us with all his dinner dates with Sam and Angry Birds playing and 'I know what's it like' guff."

Take a look at some of the best tweets from Cameron's Glamour outing below: