I was always growing, so it made no sense for my mom and dad to load me up with a bunch of clothes. But I hated coming to school and feeling like a girl could be like, 'Iman's probably gon' wear this today.' So I would always have to mix and match and find a way to look different. I took a lot of pride in that.

In Chicago, growing up there, that's how we played. You play for something more than just yourself. You play to win, and that's all that really matters.

When I was growing up, I didn't really have a lot of different things I could wear. As I got older, the more I could look different on an everyday basis, the better.

Having a routine makes for a better professional.

I didn't become leader to transform the Liberal Democrats into an enlarged form of the Electoral Reform Society. It's not the be all and end all for us. There are other very, very key ambitions in politics, not least social mobility and life chances, that I care about as passionately if not more.

While all democratic systems are works in progress, ours started rather late and therefore has a longer distance to cover. But democratic transformation for us is not mimicking some facets of Western governance. The focus has been on building institutions of democratic governance.

I think I would love to do a role where I completely transform myself and look completely different, act completely different, and do some crazy, cool, action drama where I was undercover and saving the world.

Growing up in Georgia, I used to think people up north or out west were so different. They're really not. They're just regular people who live in small towns. They grow up and try to raise families and have a job and go to church and play softball. It's that way everywhere.