Esther McVey

Employment Minister Esther McVey has laughed off her new title of Queen of the Downing Street catwalk as 'fine if it inspires girls to go into politics'.

The former TV presenter was one of a succession of female MPs photographed on the steps of Number 10 yesterday, even though some were taking up more junior roles than men whose promotions were just announced on Twitter.

Speaking after her promotion to now attend Cabinet, Miss McVey said she could only smile at the coverage that her glamorous appearance had garnered.

She told Sky News: ‘Well all I can say is that it's fantastic having women in powerful positions in the newspapers and if that meant we were walking, the paper might have called it, 'a catwalk' - we were walking into Number 10 Downing Street.

And for the last 15 years I have worked with kids from inner city areas  - young girls who are looking for role models. They see Nicky Morgan, Secretary of state for Education, and they’re thinking "hey that’s something could do."’

David Cameron replaced a succession of older male ministers with up-and-coming Tory women in an attempt to make his top team more representative of the population.

Although former TV host Miss McVey was arguably the star turn in Downing Street, one of the biggest winners was Liz Truss, who entered the Cabinet as Environment Secretary at the age of 38, making her the youngest female Cabinet minister of all time. The ice-cool mother-of-two,  increasingly tipped as a potential future Tory leader, replaced Owen Paterson, who clashed angrily with the Prime Minister as he was sacked after criticism of his handling of the horsemeat scandal, a cull of badgers and the winter floods.