A lot of big whoever producers, they come with a song and they say, 'Sing this,' and I'm not that girl.

The Americans love me because I'm so completely unwilling to change my whole Britishness.

Lesson one, introduce yourself to everyone when you walk into a room. Don't act like you're too bougie to say, 'Hello.'

I got to the point where I was fed up with so many people telling me how and who I was supposed to be.

The people at my label are always endorsing what I say. They say, 'You see the truth, so speak it.' They believe in me. They respect my opinion. At least I have an opinion, and I'm not trying to play it safe. I don't go around saying, 'I think everyone is great, and the world is fantastic.' Everyone has opinions. They just don't say it.

I'm so sick of hearing that U.K. hip hop doesn't get credit and success when I'm working to get it - for me and for others, too.

I'm signed to a U.S. label, and I didn't enjoy the 3 A.M. phone calls. I'm not a great sleeper, so I didn't enjoy being woken up.

If there is enough space on radio for Busted and McFly, who are basically the same band, or for 50,000 versions of Stereophonics and Coldplay, there must be enough room for all of us.

I'm so, so full of joy that America elected Obama.

I never feel that far away from the tabloids.

I think every artist strives for a record that crosses all energy, lines, boundaries or languages or barriers.

Collaboration is the way to go. It's very timely and fun to do.

Conservatives, they're like the Republicans to me. They don't do much. They have this whole hierarchy and boys' club thing going on. That doesn't help the regular person.

When I was growing up, hip-hop was still a pretty specialised thing.

I love rom-coms. Any will do. Films such as 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' or 'Funny Face' with Audrey Hepburn.

When I'm full, I stop eating.

Success is based on music, not where you're from.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Top performers in their fields such as Debbie Moore, Jean-Christophe Novelli, Deborah Meaden and Jo Malone, did not go to university and are just a handful of the individuals who show that with drive and determination, you can succeed by treading your own path.

When I speak to young people around the country, I'm impressed with the confidence and self-assuredness with which they look to the future and the range of options they consider beyond traditional routes.

Life teaches you it's not where you come from, it's where you get to, and work is exactly the same.

Success isn't anything to do with being lucky. It's knowing what you want, taking the necessary action, and believing you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

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

The government should only have one voice so the country knows what we stand for, so the world knows what we stand for.

If that is your route, to go to university and get a job that way, that is fantastic.

If your route is that you are practically minded, and that is what presses your button, and you do an apprenticeship and you get a job that way, that is fantastic.

That is what we should be doing: liberating everyone's potential, whether it's a self-made individual, whether it's someone taking the university route, whether it's the apprenticeship route. They are all equal and good and worthwhile.

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.

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