IN A rare interview about her personal life, Nick Clegg's wife Miriam has denied pursuing a "having it all" lifestyle, but said she wants to combine family and professional life in the way men can.

With a successful career in her own right as a lawyer, marriage to the Deputy Prime Minister and three young children, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, 46, is often seen as living proof that women are able to "have it all".

Spanish-born Mrs Clegg was speaking during a visit to a Glasgow college to address female students as part of the Inspiring Women campaign to enable girls to meet successful women from all walks of life.

Asked whether she was able to provide the girls with an example of how women can "have it all", Mrs Clegg told Sky News: "I never understand what people mean when they say 'having it all'. I personally have never wanted to 'have it all' as a general aim. I just want to have what men have.

"Lots of men have a successful professional life and they fit it together with a family and that is what I want to have. There will be other women who don't want that."

She made clear that the Deputy Prime Minister was ready to share housework with her, and said they tried to ensure that at least one of them was home with the children every evening.

"There are lots of couples who share (housework), there are lots of men now who are fully engaged with raising the children," she said.