Quotes from Esther McVey

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.

I ran my first campaign when I was 11. My slogan was 'Vote McVey, vote the right way.' I've never surpassed it!

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?

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.

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.

That's what you've got to be to be an MP: a problem solver. How can I help you? How can I engage? What do you need?

My dad started off in scrap metal, real men doing men's jobs.

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

We all have dreams, whether it be about success in our careers, improving our relationship with family and friends, or sorting out our finances.

Sometimes, for girls, it's about building confidence and giving them a can-do attitude. It's seeing role models, people like yourselves, doing those jobs and achieving them, just to say, 'I can do that.'

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

You can't underestimate how patriotic the people of this country are.

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

It makes my life easier that I don't have to take my daughter or son to school, that I've not got to look after them because they are ill. But then, I'm not nurtured and cherished, so I will seek external love from other close relationships.

When I was growing up, my parents put money into food, utility bills, and the mortgage.

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.

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

My friends have always known there was this more serious side to me, and all my life, I've had Conservative values.

Leaving the E.U. is an opportunity for our country.

To think that we are all the same and going to follow the same journey, that is wrong. We are going to support and liberate people, to give people as many opportunities to succeed as possible without being prescriptive.

I was raised in inner-city Liverpool, the first in my family to go to university.