“The period from conception to two is about the development of a baby's emotional capacities. Mum saying, 'Oh, darling, I love you,' and singing baby songs and pulling faces literally stimulates the synapses in the brain.”

British politician

Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom is a British politician and Conservative Party member who served as the Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire from 2010 to 2024. She held ministerial office under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, and twice sought the Conservative leadership, in 2016 and 2019. In government, Leadsom served as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2016 to 2017, Leader of the House of Commons from 2017 to 2019, and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2019 to 2020. Her public record is tied to senior Conservative politics and to the ministerial work that followed the referendum era.