ED MILIBAND ridiculed the coalition recently by pointing to the front bench at PMQs, where not a single female MP sat — just a long line of Bullingdon boys and middle-class suits.

Labour can boast 81 female MPs which equates to 31 per cent of the Labour intake — something Miliband says he will not rest over until women account for 50 per cent of the party.

Admirable stuff from Labour. But perhaps to delve further would be beneficial.

There are no official stats for how many female MPs from all parties either come from or are, upper class, middle class, working poor or poor. Shame.

For then the real truth would be uncovered. Back in the 1970s many Labour MPs, male of course, came from working-class skilled backgrounds — Dennis Skinner, a miner, is a rare example of one who remains in Parliament today.

In 1979 40 per cent of Labour MPs had come from manual or clerical work previously.

In 2010 this figure had drastically reduced to 9 per cent. Currently a staggering 60 per cent of coalition government ministers attended fee-paying schools compared to the 7 per cent of the population which does so.

Miliband seems very keen to change the faces of the Labour Party to at least half being female. But my question is how many of those faces will come from poor or working poor backgrounds?

The Labour Party needs to house a broad church of MPs from all backgrounds to be truly representative of the people they make policies for. However, if you glance over the current crop of Labour female MPs most will have a few designer labels in their wardrobes, pick up their weekly shop online at Waitrose and don a Barbour coat to walk the dog in at weekends.

Dinner parties will be the order of the day over a few bottles of red. There are great role model exceptions, like Washington and Sunderland West MP Sharon Hodgson, but she is in a minority.

I receive many emails and communications from people lamenting the fact that Labour does not speak for them any longer. The reasons are quite simple.

“Labour does not walk in my shoes or live my life.

“It does not understand my struggle. Its MPs cannot begin to know what it’s like to need a foodbank.”

Does the Labour Party want more poor and working poor MPs?

Would it want, for example, a 40-plus mum of four like myself, who has experienced life as a full-time carer for a disabled child, had a home reposessed in the early 1990s and lived in a one-room B&B for three years?

Someone who can talk about seeing their son forced into working in a factory as agency staff on a zero-hours contract in a coastal seaside town where even seasonal work is considered “a good job”?

Someone who window shops at M&S but shops in Matalan and Poundland? I am completely ordinary in my circle of life, but would stand out like a sore thumb in Westminster, with not even a high-street power suit to my name.

Aside from the young female MPs with their glossy hair and designer labels, is there an actual need for MPs who may perhaps live in a council house, be a full-time carer, work shifts in an old people’s home or struggle as a single parent to make ends meet?

From my experience, yes, yes and yes again!

The electorate are fed up of not being represented by people who “know what it’s like.” Talking to their MP at the local constituency office simply reinforces their belief that many MPs have no idea of the circumstances of people who are suffering.

They are confronted by middle-class socialists with sloany vowels. Perhaps I am being too general here, but for every committed, local, down-to-earth MP like the Grahame Morrises, Ian Mearnses and Sharon Hodgsons, there are far more MPs coming from a background of PR, marketing and banking than is representative of the electorate who vote for them.

I and many others would love to see female Labour MPs who know the cost of a value loaf, can cook for a large family on a budget and wouldn’t know a bottle of house red from a claret.

An MP who knows the problems facing people forced to visit foodbanks and speaks out to stop the outrage.

An MP who doesn’t just visit their local school but knows the problems facing both children, teachers and parents under Michael Gove’s tyrannical reign, as her children are experiencing it too.

An MP who can actively seek radical change for disabled people suffering under Atos and campaign for more specialised childcare for disabled children, because she is either disabled herself or is bringing up a disabled child.

There needs to be as many of this type of MP as there are those with more privileged backgrounds.

Then and only then will the Labour Party become representative of the population.

Radical idea perhaps for Ed Miliband. But a vote-winner as women are second-class citizens in the Tory Party.

Make it happen, Ed, and election victories are yours.