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Politics is a very male-dominated, male-driven profession. I was not just a woman but a young woman, and I suppose you end up trying to behave in a way that you think is expected of you.

You can hardly judge women's effect on politics merely from the action of individual women officeholders.

Politics is a potent way to empower women.

I don't think that a woman in politics exists or thrives on her own.

We are bringing women into politics to change the nature of politics, to change the vision, to change the institutions. Women are not wedded to the policies of the past. We didn't craft them. They didn't let us.

Women have more to prove than men when it comes to politics.

I am not aware how you succeed politically when you insult women, who far more than men consistently provide you with great margins of support.

As a young woman in politics, with few women around, you start to subconsciously behave like men in politics. That comes across as quite hard, tough and humorless, but you're trying to be taken seriously.

I've always championed women in politics. We just get stuck in; politics isn't a game. The decisions we make affect people's lives, and that is something we must all keep to the forefront of our minds.

I have spent my whole life trying to prove that women can get into politics. I'd now say to them, 'For God's sake don't do it - you'll get slaughtered.'