Alok Sharma

Educating girls prevents child marriage and early pregnancy and helps women get jobs, which boosts household incomes and economic growth. It gives girls a voice and helps them to shape their own futures.

Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, identifying treatments to diseases like cancer, and harnessing the power of robotics and artificial intelligence to support everyday tasks are all within our grasp. The first country that gives birth to these discoveries will change life as we know it.

Before I entered politics, I worked for more than 15 years in corporate finance in the City, where I saw for myself the value of foreign investment. Simply put, it is a catalyst for prosperity.

Some of our best and unexpected discoveries have been born out of crises - from the Second World War, for example, came Alan Turing's decoding machine, widely considered as the precursor to modern day computers and artificial intelligence.

Infrastructure is the backbone of economic growth. It improves access to basic services such as clean water and electricity, creates jobs and boosts business.