Iain Duncan Smith Quotes

A collection of quotes by Iain Duncan Smith.

Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. Born on April 9, 1954, in Edinburgh, Scotland, he grew up in a military family and attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before serving in the Scots Guards. After leaving the army, he pursued a career in business and eventually entered politics.

Duncan Smith was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chingford in 1992 and remained in office until 1997 when he lost his seat. However, he made a successful comeback in 2001, this time representing the newly formed constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green.

In 2001, Duncan Smith was chosen as the leader of the Conservative Party, succeeding William Hague. During his time as leader, he led reforms within the party, focusing on issues such as social justice, welfare, and education. However, his leadership was not without challenges, and he faced significant criticism from his party members. In 2003, he faced a vote of no-confidence, leading to his resignation.

After stepping down as party leader, Duncan Smith shifted his focus to social and welfare policy. He energetically campaigned for welfare reform, particularly advocating for Universal Credit, a system intended to simplify the UK benefits system.

Throughout his career, Iain Duncan Smith has been known for his conservative viewpoints on social, economic, and political matters. While he has garnered both support and controversy during his time in politics, his dedication to welfare reform and social justice remains a defining aspect of his political legacy.

Well football teams are perhaps easier to control than polit

Well football teams are perhaps easier to control than political parties, I'm sure the Prime Minister would agree with me, but yeah I think every team needs discipline and a sense of self-belief and that's important, that's what leadership's all about.

Iain Duncan Smith

Leadership

It's fairness to say those who work hard, get up in the morn

It's fairness to say those who work hard, get up in the morning, cut their cloth - in other words 'we can only afford to have one or two children because we don't earn enough'. They pay their taxes and they want to know that the same kind of decision-making is taking place for those on benefits.

Iain Duncan Smith

Morning

I am an optimist about the UK. We have been involved in trad

I am an optimist about the UK. We have been involved in trade with our European partners, which we will always be doing whatever this relationship is. We are a member of the EU. That gives us benefits. But we have to figure out where that is going. In the world, we are a global trader already.

Iain Duncan Smith

Relationship

We have to challenge the whole idea that it's acceptable for

We have to challenge the whole idea that it's acceptable for a society like Britain to have such a significant number of people who do not work one day of the week and don't have any possibility of improving the quality of their lives.

Iain Duncan Smith

Society

By measuring the proportion of children living with the same

By measuring the proportion of children living with the same parents from birth and whether their parents report a good quality relationship we are driving home the message that social programmes should promote family stability and avert breakdown.

Iain Duncan Smith

Family

For those who are able to work, work has to be seen as the b

For those who are able to work, work has to be seen as the best route out of poverty. For work is not just about more money - it is transformative. It's about taking responsibility for yourself and your family.

Iain Duncan Smith

Family

When the news is good, the BBC view is: 'Get the government

When the news is good, the BBC view is: 'Get the government out of the picture quickly, don't allow them to say anything about it.' When the news is bad: 'Let's all dump on the government.'

Iain Duncan Smith

Government

All too often, government's response to social breakdown has

All too often, government's response to social breakdown has been a classic case of 'patching' - a case of handing money out, containing problems and limiting the damage but, in doing so, supporting - even reinforcing - dysfunctional behaviour.

Iain Duncan Smith

Government

The future of Conservatism lies in our beliefs and values, n

The future of Conservatism lies in our beliefs and values, not by throwing them away. We need to shed associations that bind us to past failures, but hold faith with those things that make us Conservatives.

Iain Duncan Smith

Faith

What we want to do is reform the welfare system in the way t

What we want to do is reform the welfare system in the way that Tony Blair talked about 13 years ago but never achieved - a system that was created for the days after the Second World War. That prize is now I think achievable.

Iain Duncan Smith

War