10 women who are great role models for my daughter

As a 14-year-old girl and keen runner, my role model was a young 1,500 metres athlete named Kelly Holmes.

But when I turned 15, she was replaced by Kate Moss, who was edgy and stylish. She also made smoking a cigarette look cool, so I started smoking, too.

The potentially dangerous allure of skinny models in magazines is nothing new, but perhaps it is getting worse. So who do I want my little girl Amelia to grow up admiring, and why?

Here are 10 women for starters, and the qualities that make them worthy of our admiration ...

Indefatigability

Harriet Harman

To remain at the top of politics after surviving both the Blair and Brown governments is a considerable achievement

Bravery

Jessie J

She doesn't drink or do drugs, campaigns against school bullying and is a role model for teens grappling with their sexuality

Intelligence

Stephanie Flanders

She can explain hedge funds and quantitative easing to those of us who didn't pay enough attention in maths

Wit

Caitlin Moran

Moran's book How to Be a Woman is the guide every teenage girl should read

Kindness

Martha Payne

Blogger on school dinners, 9, raised nearly £100,000 for Mary's Meals, a charity, inspiring girls everywhere

Charisma

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Space scientist and one of the BBC's brightest new stars, who wants to get more inner-city pupils interested in the subject

Grit

Hope Powell

England women's football coach who was the first woman to be given a professional coaching licence by Uefa

Diligence

Emma Watson

Fitting in a degree course at Brown University between careers as a model and actress

Altruism

Lorraine Barnes

Mother of two boys with cystic fibrosis who persuades celebrities to wear T-shirts with the slogan 'Get it Off Your Chest'

Perseverance

Kanya King

Kicked out of university as a struggling single mother, she founded the Mobo awards and advises the Government on gun violence