Kemi Badenoch

“I have a huge problem with calling young people snowflakes. We shouldn't be doing that.”

“We're quick to complain about racism, sexism, homophobia, but it's not as bad as people make out. If we're going to be more cohesive, we have to be more relaxed about petty incidents and not find insult where none exists.”

“Airey Neave's escape from Colditz, quite possibly the most remarkable thing a British politician has ever done, defined his years to come. Disregarding senior officers who frowned on such attempts, Neave was undeterred against overwhelming odds and the risk of death.”

“We take every single allegation of Islamophobia seriously and where we do find party members or people who hold positions in local government doing things we suspend them, we investigate thoroughly.”

“The phrase 'white privilege' is unnecessarily antagonistic.”

“People have the same issues wherever they come from. Schools. Hospitals.”

“People are scared to speak out against the status quo: their jobs and livelihoods, they believe, are at risk.”

“I tend to be such a generalist.”

“If you let people think they can get away with a certain type of behaviour, people will take advantage of it.”

“Neave demonstrated that social reform is not a battle between the haves and the have-nots. It is about how change can only come about when both sides work together to achieve a common goal.”

“Everyone had their own machete. Because that's how you cut grass in Africa. There were no lawn mowers. We had to tend our own patches. I still feel as if I have got the blisters.”

“I was lucky. I got university degrees and had a successful tech and finance career. But many of my generation weren't.”

“I look at South Africa and look around Europe and ask: are those places better to be black than the U.K.? I don't think so. It doesn't mean everything is perfect.”

“My experiences led me to the Conservative Party which embodied my belief in helping everyone reach their potential regardless of their background.”

“This is one of the best countries in the world to be a black person.”

“Identity politics may claim to defend the rights of individuals, but increasingly it has become a mechanism for undermining the freedom of people to hold and express an opposing view.”

“In the papers, they were talking about how 'Friends' is now sort of really homophobic, transphobic and so on. That, for me, is a very, very - it's actually a puritanical position, which I think of as conservative.”

“I'm not just equality minister I am also a Treasury secretary.”

“Bigotry and prejudice are not unique to groups that have held privilege, and ascribing views to entire groups rather than to specific individuals is illiberal.”

“I have already sent advice to candidates and what I have said was 'be aware that your social media profile is now fair game, you can't expect people not to take it into account. Think about what you say and how you say it when you use social media.'”