Labour MP Liz Kendall, of the remain camp for the forthcoming EU referendum, has challenged minister and leave campaigner Priti Patel, a fellow former pupil of Watford grammar school for girls, to debate the EU vote at their old school in front of the current generation of students.

“I hope you will accept this challenge, and make sure the most important question facing our country is debated by Watford girls, not just Bullingdon boys,” said Kendall, MP for Leicester West, in a letter to Patel, referring to the trio of David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson, all former members of the University of Oxford’s best-known student drinking club.

Kendall, who was among those who lost to Jeremy Corbyn in last year’s party leadership election, said: “More than anyone, it is Britain’s young people who will be affected by the decision we take on June 23. It is their jobs and their future that will be on the ballot paper.

“I want to make sure that young women’s views are heard loud and clear in a debate that has so far been dominated by men.”

Both women are 44 and attended the school in the 80s, by which time it was non-selective. Kendall says she has yet to get a reply, and the Guardian was not able to contact Patel on Sunday.

