Former Conservative leader William Hague has heaped praise upon his party's Twickenham candidate in next year's General Election.

The leader of the House of Commons said Tania Mathias, councillor for Hampton Wick, is working hard to defeat Liberal Democrat Business Secretary MP Vince Cable.

He told the Richmond and Twickenham Times: "Her chances in next year's election are very, very good.

"Tania Mathias is an impressive candidate who is working very hard and knows people and their issues extremely well."

Mr Hague said the step-up from local government to a national level "is not difficult".

He added: "But we do need more women in Parliament.

"At the moment only 22 per cent of parliamentary seats are filled by women and this should be more."

The former leader of the opposition was attending a Conservative event at Ryan House in Twickenham, where he spoke about the importance of British exports.

He said: "Exports to Europe have been going down a bit - these big economies close to us, such as Italy and Germany, are flat."

London MEP Syed Kamall also attended the event, hosted by Dr Mathias this morning.

The Twickenham seat, held by Dr Cable since 1997, has been highlighted as a target seat for the Tories.