Francis Maude: We face the simple choice of modernise or die

From the RA Butler memorial lecture, delivered by the Conservative MP for Horsham, in London

Modernise or die. This is the stark choice facing the Conservative Party. It is not the first time the party has teetered on the brink of oblivion, but without radical action it could be the last. For some years we simply have not seemed to be a contemporary party, in touch with the way people live, attuned to their aspirations and fears, their anxieties and their hopes.

For some Conservatives, the very idea of root and branch modernisation is anathema. It is, they believe, inconsistent with the very notion of Conservatism. They are wrong. Just as the most dangerous words for investors are "It's different this time", so for Conservatives today they are "It'll come around". If the electoral pendulum swings at all, it swings mighty slow. There is nothing inevitable about a Conservative recovery. Our electoral base is dangerously eroded. There is no God-given right for the Conservatives to remain one of the two major parties.

Too often, modernisation has been taken to be synonymous with "inclusiveness". This is both simplistic and insufficient. Yes, we must be a party for all, no matter on what side of the tracks they were born, whatever their origin, their gender, the colour of their skin or their sexual orientation.

Preaching tolerance doesn't quite do it. This is not about window-dressing, or a quick coat of paint over the same old bodywork. This is not about gloss, or presentation, or spin.

It has to come from deep within. It is attitude and outlook. It is how we feel about ourselves and our fellow citizens. Respect for all, male, female, rich, poor, old, young, black, white, gay, and straight is not about "pandering to minorities" or trying to build a "rainbow coalition", as some charge. It is about being a decent party.

And today many couples decide not to marry, yet form stable families with children. These are not way-out people on the fringes of society. We cannot be a party of choice, yet seem to deny people the choice of how to organise their relationships.

Seeming to rail against cohabitation makes us look as though we are clinging to a rose-tinted past. Gay couples, cohabiting couples, unmarried parents all exist. Conservatives must recognise that plenty of good citizens who are the lifeblood of a neighbourly society choose to live in all kinds of relationships – including marriage. It does not make them bad people.

In short, we must be broad and generous, genuinely representative of a people who are broad and generous. The Conservative Party must reflect the face of present-day Britain, not from electoral expediency but because that is what being a decent national party means. In the real world, half of the population is female and around one in 14 people is from an ethnic minority. Yet at the last election, not a single woman or ethnic minority candidate was selected for a Conservative-held seat. Too often local associations accept the case for diversity in principle but maintain that "it wouldn't quite do here". This is no time for nimbys. Yes, of course gender, colour and sexuality should not be issues at selection committees. Yes, of course talent should rule. Yes, every technique for enforcing change is objectionable in some way. No, I don't like quotas or all-women short lists or any of the other nostrums available. I earnestly wish intervention weren't necessary. But it is. The time for exhortation and encouragement has passed. We need action, fast.

All this, being more representative, more inclusive, call it what you like, will not win us an election. It is no more than the entry ticket to get into the race. Without it we do not even get into the paddock, let alone to the starting gate. And we have to do it all with conviction. Just as bookies aren't fooled by looks, but place their trust in form, so the electorate will not be hoodwinked into believing that the Conservative Party has changed unless, in every deed, every word and every choice we make, we show that we understand, like, and are comfortable in contemporary Britain.