People used to think it was weird, but now it feels like everybody is cutting down on caffeine and it’s a lot more normal. I’m up around 7.30am and I like to get my steps in, so depending on how much time I have I’ll either walk to a train station 15 minutes or 40 minutes away. Every day at work is completely different: I could be busy with morning calls, chairing a meeting, speaking to constituents or appearing in the chamber. I think people would be surprised how hard MPs actually work – well, the majority of them.

It was a very different job but a similar environment to politics: I was surrounded by men. Becoming an MP was a big pivot but even now I’m involved with a lot of technology and programming committees. However, the biggest lesson I learned was to get myself into rooms where I wasn’t the most intelligent person. In any career, it’s so important to challenge yourself and learn from others.

My dad was very much a community person, so I was always an activist and fighting against some kind of injustice. When you look around parliament, you don’t find many people like me – working class, Black, didn’t go to Oxbridge – so I didn’t make the link. I was just on a mission to make the world a better place. 

I walked in with my three-and-a-half-inch heels on and expected it to be like the first day of school, so I was surprised by how cold people were towards me. Politics isn’t the kind of environment where everyone is caring, but I thought my biggest challenge would be learning all the rules and regulations. Instead, I was constantly being ‘put in my place’ and dealing with microaggressions that others just didn’t face. I felt like I had all this extra burden on top of the job, which was really unfair, but I just had to keep going and learn to cope somehow.

I was the first Black woman to stand at that dispatch box in parliament and respond on behalf of Her Majesty’s government. But for some reason, when I talk about it there are people who will say: “Why is she still banging on about that?” It’s like it’s OK for everyone else to talk about their successes but not me. You have to surround yourself with good people who will drown out the noise of the bad people so you can continue with your ambition. My best career advice is to choose your battles. It comes with a caveat though. When you’re younger, I think it’s good to be uncompromising; as you get older you learn that you aren’t always going to get your own way. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t question the way things are.

My days of pretending to be someone else are over. I rarely work dark colours anymore because I want to stand out. I used to dim my own light and make myself small, but I’ve learned to embrace it and wear whatever I like. 

I’ll get home from work at around 9pm some days but I still have the events of the day swirling around in my head. I find it hard to take time for myself, even when I know it’s important. I’ll be thinking about what I’m doing for the rest of the week and what my constituents are dealing with. I like a long hot bath with some music playing to relax me, but it doesn’t always clear my mind as much as I’d like. 

Grilling people is part of my current job, but this would be a bit more fun. I’d definitely want a lively Friday night slot and to be able to give the audience cars like Oprah used to do. 

Images: Getty; ShotbyFarheenxo