Endorsement for Jo Swinson fires starting gun in Lib Dem leadership race

Jo Swinson has strong support among party members Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson has been tipped for the party’s top job by one of her Scottish colleagues, firing the starting gun on a leadership contest that won’t begin until May.

Ms Jardine gave the East Dunbartonshire MP her backing, saying she has the “talent, the drive and the ambition for the country to do a good job”. Ms Swinson, the deputy Lib Dem leader, has yet to confirm she will seek to follow Sir Vince Cable, who announced he would trigger the search for his successor after English local elections in May.

However, the former business minister is expected to run and is one of just two leading contenders for the job, along with Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran, in what could be an all-women contest that would give the Lib Dems their first female leader.

The former energy and climate change secretary, Ed Davey, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate. However, Ms Swinson is understood to have strong support among party members, particularly in Scotland, where a third of Lib Dem MPS are based.

“She was a great minister, she’s got the experience to do it and I think that’s significant – you need to know how government works,” Ms Jardine said of her colleague.

“I think what we need is someone who knows what they are doing and someone who has the experience and reputation which Jo has for getting things done.”

Party sources have said they expect there to be a contested leadership election after no- one stood against Mr Cable in 2017. Ms Swinson was also unopposed for the deputy leadership position.

Mr Cable said he would remain neutral in the race to succeed him, saying of the likely candidates: “The worst thing I can do is to start promoting them.” Ms Swinson regained the East Dunbartonshire seat she lost to the SNP in 2017, having previously held it from 2005 to 2015.