Cameron Cutie was a political term used in the UK to refer to female prospective parliamentary candidates and Members of Parliament (MPs) for the 2010 general election from the Conservative Party who were personally supported by then-party leader

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. The term emerged in 2009, and was seen as a Conservative version of the more prominent

Blair Babe Blair Babes or Blair's Babes was a term sometimes used to refer to the 101 female Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Labour Party elected to the House of Commons in Labour's landslide 1997 general election victory, after images of the new ...

. Promoting women candidates was a way of reaching female voters similar to the means by which

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

won their 1997 landslide. As part of his party's modernisation programme, Cameron advocated for more female MPs. A male equivalent was coined as a "mate of Dave". Some

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

activists resented that David Cameron personally selected female parachute candidates for winnable seats. There were female members of the

Conservative A-List The Conservative A-List, also called Priority List, was a list of United Kingdom candidates drawn up by Conservative Central Office at the behest of David Cameron following his 2005 Conservative Party leadership election, election as party lead ...

, priority candidates that were selected for the general election. Mayor of Antrim Adrian Watson said he was overlooked for being the Ulster Conservatives and Unionist candidate in South Antrim for not being a "Cameron cutie". The term was derided in the media when a number of sex scandals were reported on including some of the candidates. The term was used frequently in the media coverage of the Westminster North Conservative Association selection in 2009 between

Joanne Cash Joanne Catherine Cash, Baroness Cash (born 28 December 1969) is a media barrister and life peer. She was the unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate for Westminster North in the 2010 general election. Early life and education Cash was bor ...

and Amanda Sayers, two female lawyers.

List

The following politicians have been described with the label:

Reception

The term Cameron Cutie was described as sexist.

Rachel Johnson Rachel Sabiha Johnson (born 3 September 1965) is a British journalist, television presenter, and author who has appeared frequently on political discussion panels, including ''The Pledge (British TV programme), The Pledge'' on Sky News and BBC ...

did not like the term. Mark Wallace called it an objectionable term and "an even more patronising version of 'Blair's babes'".

Louise Mensch Louise Daphne Mensch (''née'' Bagshawe; born 28 June 1971) is a British blogger, novelist, and former Conservative Member of Parliament. In the 1990s she became known as a writer of chick lit novels under her maiden name Louise Bagshawe. She ...

described herself as a feminist instead of a Cameron Cutie. Following the 2015 general election, new MP

Andrea Jenkyns Dame Andrea Marie Jenkyns (born 16 June 1974) is a British politician who has been the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire since May 2025. A member of the Reform UK party, she was previously the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Morle ...

called herself "feisty Yorkshirewoman" rather than a Cameron Cutie. In 2022, David Cameron called the usage of the term "embarrassing" in an opinion piece.

List

Reception

References

See also