Charles Kennedy has made his bid to secure the female vote by unveiling the Liberal Democrats' election manifesto for women.

Flanked by female MPs and candidates at the party's London headquarters on Tuesday, the Lib Dem leader promised women better maternity pay, fairer pensions and fewer female prisoners behind bars.

The party anticipates the female vote could be vital in the contest for key marginals.

They believe women are particularly attracted to the Lib Dems' opposition to the Iraq War, and their policies on the scrapping of university tuition fees and free long-term care for the elderly.

Kennedy said women were also attracted by his party's less confrontational approach to
politics and he joked that, unlike some Labour politicians, he had never been labelled as "macho".

"Many women feel alienated from the political discourse as it is currently conducted and would like the dialogue framed with their specific concerns more firmly to the forefront," he argued.

"There are areas of public policy which do actually disadvantage women and they require a specific answer about how these are being addressed."

Policies

The Liberal Democrat leader outlined his party's proposed citizen's pension for over-75s; a policy which particularly appeals to women as it is based on an individual's years of residency in the UK - not on contributions over their working life.

A £100-a-month increase in the basic state pension was promised as Kennedy pointed out that two-thirds of the two million pensioners below the poverty line are women.

And Kennedy - whose wife Sarah is expecting their first child in April - said that it was "extraordinary" that working women received just £102 a week in maternity pay.

He promised an income of at least £170 a week for the first six months of the child's life at a cost of £145 million a year to the Treasury.

"This isn't a hugely expensive policy.  But it would make an enormous difference to the start in life for some of our poorest children and their mothers,'' Kennedy said.

On women prisoners, Kennedy said there had been an "alarming" rise under Labour and he made clear that "Prison should be a last resort for women, not the first port of call".

Of the 335 election candidates selected so far by the Liberal Democrats, 93 are women.

And women candidates have been chosen for some of the party's top target seats, including Birmingham Hodge Hill and Cardiff Central, where the Lib Dems need swings of only around two per cent to unseat male Labour MPs.