Yesterday, The Times accused my party of failing to do enough to promote women in politics. Today, I want to set a few things straight. But let me start by saying what The Times got right: this is not some side issue - it's a vital one. It is crucial that the people who make decisions that affect everyone's lives represent Britain as a whole and that we end the chronic under- representation of women in politics.

But I would strongly disagree with the thrust of yesterday's argument. The headline said: “Women take a back seat in Cameron's Tory Party” and was accompanied by a picture inside, of me surrounded by a sea of suits. What you couldn't see were the four women on my other side.

The fact is we've got more women in the Shadow Cabinet than Labour have in their Cabinet. We have more than 80 parliamentary candidates who are women.

If we form a majority of just one at the next election, the number of female Tory MPs will treble to 55.

Half the peers I have appointed since becoming leader are women, and both of them are in the Shadow Cabinet - Sayeeda Warsi, the first Muslim to sit in a Shadow Cabinet or Cabinet, recently named the most powerful Muslim woman in Britain; and Pauline Neville-Jones, my Shadow Security Minister, who brings years of experience in government of security issues.

In my private office, four of the most senior posts are filled by exceptionally able women who I personally appointed myself. These include Deputy Chief of Staff, Speechwriter, and Head of Operations and my Press Secretary.

We've got two million unemployed in our country and the numbers are only going to rise. I know that looking after these people and getting them back into work will be a crucial task for any future Conservative government. That's why I appointed one of my most effective colleagues to be Shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions. That colleague is Theresa May. And I appointed her because I knew she would get the job done.

My “economic A-team” doesn't stop in the Shadow Cabinet either. Baroness Noakes leads for us on the economy in the House of Lords as well as playing a vital role in my Economic Recovery Committee. And Justine Greening was also a member of the Shadow Treasury team until she was promoted earlier this year to become Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government.

But I am under no illusions. The Conservative Party has still got a long way to go before our party fully reflects Britain as it is today. Here's how I approach it.

If you want more women in your party, there are two routes you can take. The first is straightforward positive discrimination - including blocking men from shortlists, as Labour did. Though this would have guaranteed an increase in the number of women in our party, I instinctively knew it was wrong for a party that believes in meritocracy - that people should rise on the back of hard work and not who they are.

But sometimes you have to step in and change the rules because there's an existing inbuilt male bias. That's what I did when I redesigned the system for MEP candidate selection so that the first vacant place in every region goes to a woman. As a result, at the European elections this June, the Conservative Party is fielding strong female candidates across the country.

The second route is the one I predominantly choose to take - positive action. If straightforward positive discrimination is about closing doors to those who don't fit the new mould, positive action is about opening them to those we want to welcome. Above all, that's what I've done. I introduced a priority list with the explicit aim of getting more female candidates into our key marginal seats.

As well as this, we have actively sought out a more diverse range of candidates through organisations such as Women2Win. All this is combined with measurable aspirations for the future. That's why I have said, if elected, by the end of our first Parliament I want a third of all my ministers to be female.

If you think I sound passionate about this, you're right - I am. But that's because this is very personal to me. I live with the embodiment of can-do, no-nonsense, female dynamism - my wife Samantha. I believe that we need more of this quality - in my party and in our politics. That's why I've campaigned on this issue since before I was elected as leader. And it's why I will keep on doing everything I can to get more women involved in politics.

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