Nicola Sturgeon

Thatcher was the motivation for my entire political career. I hated everything she stood for.

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.

For me, personally, it has been humbling since I became First Minister to speak to women and girls and have them tell me how much it means to them to have a woman in the top job in politics in Scotland.

I bow to no one in my ambition to see Glasgow be as successful as it possibly can be.

An independent Scotland - like all countries - will face challenges, and we will have our ups and downs. But the decisions about how we use our wealth will be ours.

Some of the brightest and best women in our society are stifled in their ambitions.

I think you should always aim for more.

I and Alex Salmond are not in competition - we are on the same side; we are on the same team, working together.

I feel sorry for generations of Labour voters and supporters who must look and wonder what on earth has gone wrong and what Labour is for.

Labour long ago realised it could no longer automatically assume that it would win elections in Glasgow and other places where it has taken people's votes for granted for decades - as we have seen across Scotland at local council and Holyrood elections.

Equality and prosperity shouldn't be seen as enemies of each other, but as partners. One reinforces the other.

I am a social democrat - I believe in pursuing greater equality and tackling social justice - but... you can't do that unless you have got a strong economy, unless you have got a vibrant business base earning the wealth that makes that possible.