Tory peer Baroness Buscombe has attacked sexism in the Tory ranks, accusing male Conservatives of viewing women as little more than pearl-wearing jam-makers.

Writing in the Spectator, Buscombe, who was in charge of women's issues at Central Office until 1998, said the party was times dominated by the "attitudes and prejudices of the immediate post-war era".

She added that neither Kenneth Clarke nor Iain Duncan Smith have come up with ideas to address the problem.