11 Quotes & Sayings By Iain Duncan Smith

Iain Duncan Smith is a British politician and the Leader of the United Kingdom's Conservative Party. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2001 and a member of the Cabinet since 2010. He was first elected for Chingford and then for Chingford and Wood Green from 1987 to 1992, then for Chingford from 1992 to 1997, and finally for Chingford and Wanstead from 1997 to 2001. In October 2000 he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Social Security, where he served until January 2001 Read more

He became the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in May 2003 in a cabinet reshuffle. In his role as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, he created the Child Poverty Action Group in 2003. In December 2003 he appointed a Commission on Widening Access, chaired by Professor Sir Richard Titmuss, to review social exclusion in England.

In January 2005 he introduced an Employment Bill that would have reduced working age benefits by 5% each year until 2012. This measure was dropped in July 2005 after widespread opposition from Parliament. In December 2007 he became Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

In June 2009, following Nick Clegg's resignation after the European elections, Smith succeeded him as Deputy Prime Minister under David Cameron with responsibility for the Department for Communities and Local Government. On 19 June 2012 Smith resigned from his post as leader of the Conservative Party, due to the party's failure to win an overall majority in that year's general election.

1
Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man. Iain Duncan Smith
2
Luck is great, but most of life is hard work. Iain Duncan Smith
3
When families are strong and stable, so are children - showing higher levels of wellbeing and more positive outcomes. But when things go wrong - either through family breakdown or a damaged parental relationship - the impact on a child's later life can be devastating. Iain Duncan Smith
4
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
5
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
6
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
7
We do not celebrate people who have made success out of serious hard work. Iain Duncan Smith
8
A system that was originally designed to support the poorest in society is now trapping them in the very condition it was supposed to alleviate. Iain Duncan Smith
9
If you look at the footballers, you look at our celebrity culture, we seem to be saying, 'This is the way you want to be'. We seem to be a society that celebrates all the wrong people. Iain Duncan Smith
10
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