He was joined by Labour Party Chairman Hazel Blears, Conservative Party Vice-Chair Sayeeda Warsi, former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, business women Yvonne Thompson CBE and leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage.

HAZEL BLEARS MP

Career: Hazel Blears is the Labour Party Chairman and Cabinet Minister without Portfolio. She was promoted to the Cabinet in last May's reshuffle, having been the Labour MP for Salford since 1997.

She worked as a solicitor before her election to parliament, going on to take up a post in the Home Office with responsibility for crime and security under Charles Clarke.

In February she entered the race for the deputy leadership of the Labour party. Announcing her candidacy, she called for a renewed sense of party unity, saying: "We have got to work harder to bring party and government together - that will be one of my main roles."

SAYEEDA WARSI

Career: Sayeeda Warsi is the Conservative Party Vice-Chair.

A British-born Muslim of Pakistani origin, she was a race adviser to Michael Howard. Since last December she has had responsibility for taking the party's message to the inner cities.

She stood at the last election in 2005 and is currently on David Cameron's "A list" of candidates chosen to fight safe or winnable seats.

GEORGE CAREY

Career: George Carey was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2001.

During this period, the Church of England controversially decided to allow the ordination of women priests, something which the archbishop had expressed strong support for.

During his first post as vicar of St Nicholas' Church in Durham, he trebled the congregation within two years, going on to become Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1988.

On his retirement, he was made a life peer as Baron Carey of Clifton. He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to publish his memoirs, entitled "Know the Truth".

YVONNE THOMPSON CBE

Career: Yvonne is one of the UK's top business women, and president of the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners.

She also sits on the boards of a number of business organisations including Business Link for London and the Department of Trade and Industry's Small Business Council, and chairs the DTI's Ethnic Minority Business Forum and the African Caribbean Business Network.

She was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2003 in recognition of her work with black and ethnic-minority businesses.

This month she was named one of the 50 most powerful black women in Britain by the New Nation newspaper.

NIGEL FARAGE MEP

Career: Nigel Farage is the leader of the UK Independence Party.

Having joined the Conservative Party as a schoolboy, he left in 1992 in protest over John Major's signing of the Maastricht Treaty and went on to found UKIP in 1993.

In 1999, and again in 2004, he was elected to the European Parliament and currently leads UKIP's 10 MEPs, as well as being co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group Independence and Democracy.

He has been a vocal critic of all three main political parties, saying at UKIP's October 2006 conference: "You can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."