Esther McVey: I Want To Be PM One Day

Honest politician klaxon!

Employment Minister Esther McVey has said the one thing that no MP ever admits to: She wants to be Prime Minister.

Asked if she wanted the top job during a Loose Women interview, the Tory MP responded: "If I had to give a yes or a no, I'll be honest and say ‘yes’. It's about women, the motivation is women."

You only have to work in Westminster for five minutes before you realise that every politician harbours a secret desire to run the country - and they all privately believe they would be brilliant at it (even if to any independent observer that is patently not the case.)

Even the most viciously ambitious politician will vociferously deny they aspire to the top job (Boris Johnson anyone?)

So it’s rather refreshing that Ms McVey is prepared to stick her neck out and admit that, yes, she would quite like to be Prime Minister.

She went on to say: "Girls need role models, they must see women who have succeeded and achieved from their background.

"They believe they can do it because that person is from the same background as me, looks like me, sounds like me - that could be me. I’ve brought a bit of me into my job.”

Ms McVey’s chances of being Prime Minister are - currently - slim.

Conservative MPs I’ve spoken to are sceptical that she's a serious contender for the leadership. Boris Johnson, George Osborne, Theresa May and Sajid Javid are the names most often spoken of.

She also faces the rather important challenge of hanging on to her marginal Wirral West seat in May’s General Election.

But the Conservative party could do a lot worse. Ms McVey is a straight-talking Northern female who does not fit the stereotype of male Tory toffs.

She's also battle-hardened after ministerial roles in the Department of Work and Pensions, where’s she’s been in the firing line for controversial welfare changes.

Plus - importantly - she comes across as a human being first, and a politician second.