The wife of Tory leader Michael Howard has revealed her husband is rooting for "pretty" election candidates like Brighton Kemptown's Judith Symes.

Sandra Howard, a former model, said her husband "likes pretty girls and would be very pleased if Judith was elected."

Mrs Howard passed on her husband's firm endorsement when she stopped off in Brighton yesterday as part of a national tour to lend her support to female Tory candidates.

She visited a drug treatment centre for women users before chatting to traders in St James's Street with Mrs Symes.

The leader's wife said: "It's been most exciting for me because we have the most fantastic candidates.

"They're feisty and young and in the 21st Century - and they're not dressed in Tory pearls.

"Westminster will look like a different place after the election."

Speaking during a coffee break in the Cherry Tree cafe in St James's Street, she pointed at Mrs Symes, the party's tallest, blondest candidate in Sussex, and said her husband was looking forward to seeing more Tory women join him in Parliament after next month's ballot.

She added: "He likes pretty girls and would be very pleased if Judith was elected."

Mrs Howard said the party's women candidates had been selected on the basis of their talent and merit without having to resort to the all-women shortlists Labour has used to increase its proportion of women MPs.

But according to the election website Factcheck, the Conservatives are still lagging behind the other two major parties when it comes to the number of female candidates.

The Tories have 122 women candidates running for election, or 19 per cent of the party's total across the UK. Labour has 171, or 27 per cent. The Lib Dems have 147, or 23 per cent.

Mrs Howard said the accusation that her husband's party was unwelcoming to women was outdated.

She said: "That is a label that is hung round our necks but it's unfair.

"The Conservatives are an extremely caring and broad-minded party.

"The world moves on and we are going to have a lot more women MPs."

Mrs Symes yesterday declined to comment on Mrs Howard's compliment and said: "This is a serious matter about getting more women into Parliament.

"We are getting a lot of feedback that perceptions are shifting, particularly in Kemptown.

"The party is modernising and the face of the party is changing."

The Conservatives have been trying hard to stress their liberal credentials.

On Tuesday, the party's only openly gay MP, Alan Duncan, spoke to the Brighton Gay Business Association and said he expected to see many more gay Conservatives in the House of Commons after the election.

Mr Duncan, who is the shadow secretary for international development, admitted that some in his party had been slow to catch on to the importance of gay issues in modern Britain.

But he said: "We have now reached a point when issues of sexuality can be removed from the party political argument and gays can choose the party they want based on things like tax and environment and other issues.

"They no longer have to choose their party based on their being gay."