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Source: Reuters -
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A local Conservative Party chairman has said he would consider selecting a female candidate to replace an outgoing member of parliament if she was "attractive".
Gosport Conservative Association Chairman Alan Scard's comments in an interview with Channel 4 are likely to embarrass Conservative leader David Cameron who has worked to improve the party's image ahead of an election due next year.
Gosport MP Peter Viggers will stand down at the next election after it emerged he had tried to make an expenses claim for a duck house - just one of many outlandish claims made by MPs and revealed in a newspaper investigation this year.
That leaves the local Conservative association with the job of choosing the right candidate to fight the election campaign.
"If they are attractive - I would go for it," Scard told Channel 4 when asked if he would consider selecting a woman.
"I know it's a sexist thing to say but you could get the blokes saying, 'Oh, you know I would vote for her because she's really attractive,' but then the other women say, 'Oh, I don't like her she's too attractive.'
He then said: "That's probably going to get me into a lot of trouble, that one. But that's my personal view, that's not the Conservative party."
Scard later said his comments had been meant in jest.
Political commentators say the Conservatives, well ahead of the Labour government in opinion polls, have been perceived by some voters as less inclusive than Labour - a charge the centre-right party's leadership dismisses.
Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has himself faced criticism from some female party members who say he has not promoted enough women through the ranks of government.
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