“Economics and finance is the final frontier for women; it’s the last thing they will conquer because controlling finance is at the heart of everything in government.”

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 economic basis of this contest was the power to tax, to float bonds, to award franchise: in short, to gain control over the financial resources of the newly organized States.

We have never in human history seen a run-up in credit of the kind we have just witnessed in advanced economies since 1970.

The basic aggregate measure of gearing or leverage is telling us that today’s advanced economies’ operating systems are more heavily dependent on private sector credit than anything we have ever seen before.

Then our economic future will be very different from our recent past.

Macroeconomic stability will be more elusive and that will affect all of our lives: from the risks many will face in childhood.

Furthermore, this pattern is seen across all the advanced economies, and isn’t just a feature of some special subset (e.g. the Anglo-Saxons).

If we are to remain preeminent in transforming knowledge into economic value, America’s system of higher education must remain the world’s leader in generating scientific and technological breakthrough, and in meeting the challenge to educate workers.

These days, even out of office, I still read economic reports.