Since our previous update there have been 22 more recorded adoptions and the proportion of women selected has dipped from 34.8% to 33.6% (the high point was last December when the ratio hit 38.1%). CCHQ will be relieved, however, that the number of women adopted has picked up again recently. As the rolling record shows, after 17 male selections in a row, broken by Diana Coad's selection at Slough, 6 of the last 14 adoptions have been of women. The next monthly report will introduce a new feature. We will analyse not just the crude proportion of women and ethnic minorities being chosen but whether they are being selected in the most winnable seats.
The proportion of ethnic minority candidates rose very slightly over the last month - to 3.65%.
