Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston backed after calling cabinet 'too posh, male and white'

OUTSPOKEN South Devon Tory MP Sarah Wollaston (pictured) has been supported by local Conservatives after hitting national headlines.

The Totnes and Brixham MP said the party's top team was 'far too posh, male and white' and the Cabinet needed 'to look and sound more like modern Britain'.

Totnes and South Devon Conservatives chairman Rupert Hancock said the constituency was 'very well served by a good, caring and hard-working lady' and the association supported her call for more women in politics.

He said: "It's only right that the call for more women MPs was made on International Women's Day. Women should be encouraged in all walks of life and should be judged on merit."

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Dr Wollaston recently compared Parliament to a 1950s boys' boarding school and said the House of Commons needed to be 'dragged into the 21st century'.

Michael Jeavons, chairman of Torbay Conservative Association, said: "Dr Wollaston is a good role model for anyone who aspires to become a Member of Parliament and the Prime Minister should take her comments on modernisation seriously."

Her latest comments came as Prime Minister David Cameron faced mounting pressure over his leadership in the wake of a series of poor opinion polls and election results.

But Dr Wollaston insisted she was a Cameron loyalist. On the social networking website Twitter, the MP said: "Inner circle still look far too posh, male and white and Cameron is running out of time to fix it.

"I consider myself a Cameron loyalist; he is the best person for the job but should listen to critical friends.

"He needs to change his inner circle which just seems to be telling him what he wants to hear."

Conservative strategists have been frustrated at MPs for giving a 'running commentary' on the leadership and party's electoral chances on Twitter.

The new general election guru Lynton Crosby was expected to tell them this week that they are 'participants not commentators'.

But unbowed, Dr Wollaston took to Twitter to say: "I cannot 'participate' without the freedom to 'comment', even if that is sometimes inconvenient to the Executive."

Dr Wollaston has also been urging ministers not to do a U-turn by ditching the plan for a minimum price on alcohol.

As speculation grew that the proposal would be shelved amid criticism that it would unfairly punish responsible drinkers on low incomes, the MP said society was already paying a massive price from the impact of problem drinking.

The former GP said: "I feel devastated. We know that whenever alcohol is too cheap, people die.

"If the Chancellor wants a message from me it's we are already paying a huge amount to clear up the cost of this.

"It's costing us around £21billion a year just to deal with the crime, violence and medical costs of it.

"Introducing minimum pricing does not make alcohol unaffordable. More people will carry on dying, that's the bottom line. Don't ditch it."