“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.”

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.

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.

When I travel around the country, I see great companies with new ideas and a can-do attitude. But too often they are in hand-to-hand and pen-to-paper combat with officialdom.

All of my parents’ friends worked in public sector jobs.

We spent a lot of time talking about politics at home. We went to the camp at Greenham Common.

If we just had an election which is a kind of desiccated calculation, obviously I think the Conservatives have the best economic plans, but it is about more than that. It is about the overall person.

When I write, there are times — not always — when I hear John (Lennon) in my head, I’ll think, OK, what would we have done here?, and I can hear him gripe or approve.

I swear so soon as age will permit … I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome.

A well-chosen anthology is a complete dispensary of medicine for the more common mental disorders, and may be used as much for prevention as cure.

A well-chosen anthology is a complete dispensary of medicine for the more common mental disorders, and may be used as much for prevention as cure.

The bent of our time is towards science, towards knowing things as they are.

It is all right when God sends us the approval of our fellow men; however, we must never make that approval a motive in our life.

Focus on impact, not approval. If you believe you can change the world, which I hope you do, do what you believe is right and expect resistance and expect attackers. Keep calm and carry on!

Abstinence is approved of God.