“Parliament should start earlier in the day and finish earlier. Otherwise I love it.”

I was interested in the ideas – freedom, free speech and having control of my own life. That’s why I became a Tory.

They all want us to get Brexit done so that we can begin negotiations and forge new relationships that will open up new markets for British businesses, create jobs and attract new investment.

As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, I aim to be the disrupter in chief.

I have been the only female minister in every government department I’ve worked in.

People want to start businesses because it’s a way of fulfilling their ambitions and dreams.

Choice is a national instinct. This capitalist bedrock of our prosperity and security is threatened by a Labour Party that wants to overthrow the whole system.

The teachers at my school were quite often card-carrying members of the Labour Party and it just was not part of the culture to approve of what the government was doing.

Nobody wants to be in a room or their business to be funded because they’re a woman. They don’t want to be discriminated against because they’re a woman.

I believe one of the main roles of Government is to keep our economy free and fair.

Let’s cut the top rates of stamp duty to enable more movement to take place and also looking at the broader tax reform, simplifying our tax system.

With Anglo-American capitalism increasingly under attack, those who believe in the power of free markets and enterprise to create wealth and social progress must stand up and be counted and champion our way of life.

It is right that people and businesses retain as much of their own money as possible so that they have the freedom to innovate and invest in the future.

I feel I’m fortunate compared with a lot of parents in being able to afford a nanny but, you know, it’s expensive.

If I do feel scared I deliberately challenge myself not to feel scared.

I want to see popular free-market Conservatism where barriers are broken down, people have got more opportunities but keep more of their own money.

When I started my ministerial job I brought my daughters into the Department, due to last-minute childcare complications.

The proper use of science is not to conquer nature but to live in it.

One day puss did not take his place punctually, but presently appeared with two mice, one of which it placed on its master’s plate, the other on its own.

It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what.

Nature has not got two voices, you know, one of them condemning all day what the other commands.

Liberty is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.

Life can be wonderful. Do your best not to miss it!” Enjoy what it is before it isn’t anymore. Dare to slip on a pair of bunny slippers once in a while! Surprise yourself! Enjoy the little things because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things!

When you put someone down all the time, eventually they stop listening to the sensible stuff.

Marriage is not a noun; it’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do. It’s the way you love your partner every day.