Did angry bowlers inflict Lib Dem leader’s shock election defeat?
300-strong club turns on Jo Swinson who lost by just 149 votes
The closure of an indoor bowling club is behind the biggest upset of the General Election, it was claimed yesterday.
Former Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, who had claimed she could be the next Prime Minister, lost her East Dunbartonshire seat by 149 votes to the SNP.
Among the voters to turn their backs on her was the 300-strong membership of the Allander Indoor Bowling Club in Bearsden.
They were furious at the decision by the Tory and Lib Dem-led East Dunbartonshire Council not to include a replacement indoor bowling hall in a new £33 million leisure centre.
Committee member Andrea Torrie said: “There was an outcry over the decision and more than 2,500 people signed a petition calling on the council to reverse its decision.
“Members told Jo that she would not get back in Bearsden. She is out and rightly so because she did nothing for a huge section of the community.
“I told her myself when she was handing out election leaflets in Asda. I introduced myself and said we had written to her four or five times. She replied: ‘Oh yes, what is the current state of play?’
“As far as I am concerned, she should have been telling me the current state of play. I said to her that things were in a bad way for her in Bearsden because we felt we had no support from her. Some of our members are very angry.
“She lost by 149 votes. We have 300 members. Had even half our membership voted for her, she would have got in.”
Ms Swinson declined to comment.