I'm not sure I make old bones in parliament. It's an amazing experience to have had but I can't see myself being Mother of the House.

Money gives you the power to do whatever you want to do. I like the idea of being in complete control of my life.

Of course women can have it all - if they want it all. I won't hear any defeatist talk. If you just dwell on problems, you won't get anywhere fast.

Are you trivialising the sisterhood if you dye your hair or have your eyebrows threaded? I'd say the answer to that is no. But equally, it's a perfectly valid feminist thing to say there is a certain amount of attention on a woman's appearance, and I don't wish that to be the focus or a distraction.

'Kane and Abel' is the best popular fiction of all time. As a kid, I wanted to be prime minister when I read 'First Among Equals.'

Once you are a proper, serious law-maker, you can't break the laws you're writing.

I like my men to be manly, as you'll see from my books.