When I first started out in politics I was, what you might describe as, a hard right Conservative.

If you asked me if I'd rather be Speaker or a very senior minister, I'd say Speaker.

I'm not in the business of warning people.

It is quite wrong for party conferences to be used as an excuse for the Commons not to sit. Conferences could be held at weekends.

There are people who are just very, very sniffy and snobby and have always sort of looked down their noses at me.

One consistent thing in an otherwise inconsistent career is that I've always been passionate about parliament.

The Conservatives must realise that being sceptical is different from being phobic in what is an interdependent world.