Swinson pledges to tackle ‘nationalism and populism’ after win
● New Lib Dem leader pledges to fight nationalism and stop Brexit
Jo Swinson yesterday won a landslide victory to become the first female leader of the Liberal Democrats. The MP for East Dunbartonshire, a former minister, trounced ex-cabinet member Sir Ed Davey in the battle to replace Sir Vince Cable and insisted she had a realistic chance to become prime minister.
Jo Swinson has pledged to lead a movement that will take on nationalism and populism, attacking violence and division in the Scottish independence and Brexit campaigns as she was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Ms Swinson claimed victory yesterday by a wide margin, beating her rival Sir Ed Davey by 47,997 votes to 28,021 to become her party’s first female leader. The East Dunbartonshire MP said she was a candidate for prime minister and pledged to “lead and grow the bigger, open, liberal movement that our country so desperately needs”.
Ms Swinson, who took over from Sir Vince Cable the day before the new leader of the Conservative Party is named, said: “Britain deserves better than Boris Johnson”.
Committing herself to do “whatever it takes to stop Brexit”, she also took on the SNP, linking the 2014 independence campaign to the divisions caused by the 2016 EU referendum.
“Scotland’s independence referendum heralded a new politics and not in a good way,” Ms Swinson said.
“Sandra, one of my local members, had a brick thrown through her window, which displayed a pro-uk poster. On the campaign trail, an elderly woman pulled up her coat sleeve to show the pro-uk campaign sticker on the inside of her wrist – such was her fear of wearing it on her jacket.
“A mob of hundreds outside the BBC, demanding Nick Robinson be sacked. Twitter trolls, fake news, demonising journalists, we saw it in Scotland first.
“And since then, that harsh, hostile politics has become the new normal.”
The Lib Dem leader attacked Nigel Farage for saying Brexit had been won “without a bullet being fired”, eight days after the Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered. “Crass, insensitive. Farage just didn’t care,” she said, adding that liberal values of freedom, openness and equality were “under attack”.
The SNP immediately hit back, demanding Ms Swinson apologise for the austerity measures imposed by the coalition government and rule out a future pact with the Conservatives.
“Jo Swinson was one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for the Tory coalition government,” SNP MP Mhairi Black said.
“She must move quickly to apologise for the devastating cuts she imposed and rule out any future Tory pact – if she wants anyone to believe the Lib Dems have changed their ways.”
Ms Swinson’s victory makes her a target for the SNP in her own backyard. The Nationalists ousted her in East Dunbartonshire as part of their 2015 landslide, before losing the seat back to her by 5,339 votes two years later.
Christine Jardine, the Edinburgh West MP who is one of Ms Swinson’s closest allies, said the new leader “will win in East Dunbartonshire”.
“The people in East Dunbartonshire recognise that in Jo, they have an MP who will work for them,” she said.
“She got swept up in the tsunami that swept us all up in 2015, but that was nothing to do with Jo. That was about a moment and that moment has passed. She is what we need to make sure it stays in the past.”
Ms Jardine added: “What you heard today is someone who will take the SNP on. We are the only party that will stand up for both the UK and the EU. That’s what the people in Scotland want. They want both Unions. She was absolutely clear that both populism and nationalism have been bad for this country.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said Ms Swinson “provides a stark contrast between the indecisive Jeremy Corbyn and chaotic Boris Johnson and will lead the country away from the forces of populism and nationalism”.