Esher and Walton’s MP replied simply, ‘Pass’, when he was asked by this website about the gender pay gap in Elmbridge.

Dominic Raab, a Conservative MP since 2010, declined to comment on median earnings statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that showed men in the borough earn £484.20 more than women per month, based on hourly pay excluding overtime.

That means Elmbridge men are earning some £5,800 a year more than women, based on median earnings.

When asked for comment on Tuesday afternoon by text message, Mr Raab gave his one-word response immediately.

Mr Raab has previously spoken out against positive discrimination and “anti-meritocratic” gender quotas.

Writing on his blog in 2011, he said: “I have to say I am fed up with the militant agenda that belittles the enormous progress Britain has made in becoming a more tolerant and open society.

“Of course, there are still social creases in modern Britain. But, the gender pay gap has halved since the 1970s.

“We need less of the 1970s gender warfare that pits the couples against each other in an outdated battle of the sexes.

“We need more family friendly policies, like transferable parental leave, so couples can choose how to share the responsibilities of being breadwinners and child-carers between them – a common challenge most couples go through together.”

A spokeswoman from the Fawcett Society, the leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights, said: “UK-wide the pay gap is 13.9 per cent for women working full-time. At the current rate of progress it will take over 50 years to close it.

“Women simply can’t afford to wait that long.

“We need more flexible working to support women to balance work and caring responsibilities, we need a period of parental leave dedicated to dads and paid at a decent replacement rate so that more men can take time out to care.

“We need to scrap the employment tribunal fees that prevent women accessing justice when they experience discrimination.”

The ONS said earlier this year: “Part-time workers – both men and women – earn less, on average, per hour than their full-time counterparts.

“A much higher proportion of women work part-time – 41 per cent, compared with only 11 per cent of men. This means that the gap for all employees – full-time and part-time together – is higher than for full-time employees alone.

“But looking at part-time workers separately, men were actually paid less on average, showing a gap of -6.5 per cent.

“Another consideration for measuring the gender pay gap is that women tend to work in occupations which offer lower salaries. The size of the gender pay gap also varies between occupations.”