I'm forever being told, and intrinsically understand, that people want to study at different times in their lives, often inspired to do so when they see the practical benefits of their studies.

Every Labour government has left office with higher unemployment than when it entered.

Labour's disastrous legacy and the Conservative success did not happen by accident: it was about the choices each party made, choices that impact on everyone.

Labour parades compassion for the poor, but it practised casual cruelty by consigning millions to benefits. Yet there's nothing compassionate about being trapped on benefits, being robbed of the dignity of work, and shut out from the choices that brings.

Everyone deserves the chance to make their own choices. The first step on this pathway is experiencing the working world.

Work experience for many is their first taste of work and an essential first step into the jobs market.

People no longer have one job for life, so it is right that younger generations adapt.

It is only by giving people the tools to empower themselves will they be able to achieve their potential.

We have seen a shift in the focus of education before entering the workplace, with earning and learning the new norm.

Lifelong learning is becoming commonplace, with people studying at different times when they see the benefits of doing so.

I work with a host of amazing women who act as role models, who give their spare time freely to encourage these girls to give things a go, to reach out and take a chance and to explain that should they fail, well that's just a part of life.

My dissertation focused on the character traits and personality types of successful women.

If people are coming into the country to add an extra dimension, to bring skills and expertise with them, we have always been open to that.

Not only does work experience provide the opportunity to sample a potential career, but it also builds the essential skills often regarded as 'soft skills' that are needed to thrive in work.

If feminism was a dress, it would be that essential little black number, reached for in times of need; different for everyone but a steady constant in a woman's life. Outspoken or understated, demure or provocative, worn to reflect the mood, the personality, the time.

David Cameron, and before him Iain Duncan Smith, went out of their way to attract women into the party. Yes, we need to sell politics to more women, but quotas are not the way forward. You set a quota, what is the right quota? What is the wrong quota?

Outside Westminster, political debate must seem like white noise that bears little relevance to people's everyday lives. But political choices made by the governments we elect have a real impact on how we live.

Only three per cent of people are born with a disability; the rest acquire it through accident or illness, but people come out of it. Thanks to medical advances, bodies heal.

Growing up with a bold feminist in my mother, I witnessed her march magnificently from mini to maxi, fashions so obviously linked to powerful statements of female progression, equality and recognition. I knew no other than freedom of expression in all the forms it came in; art, theatre, fashion, literature and music.

For too long, people have had to neutralise or lose their accent out of fear of prejudicial treatment or to fit in. This has then led to a lack of regional accents, which has allowed this lazy stereotyping and prejudicial attitudes to prevail.

Universal Credit claimants who refuse to accept a zero hours contract job offer, without good reason, can be subject to a sanction.

I, for one, want to make sure we give every young person the chance to find the fuel for their confidence, something that will power their ambition.

I'm in politics to defend the rights of Canadians - to secure a brighter future.

I won the leadership of the Conservative Party as a pro-choice Conservative MP, one with a strong mandate.