05 February 1980

Happy birthday to Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat leader 2019

Swinson became the first MP born in the 1980s and ‘baby of the House’ when elected for East Dumbartonshire at the general election of 2005. She had previously stood against Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, recording a 6% swing to the Liberal Democrats. Swinson served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Lib Dems between 2010 and 2012 and was briefly PPS to Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg in 2012 before becoming Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs and a junior Equalities minister. She lost her seat to the SNP at the 2015 general election but recaptured it at the following election in 2017. She served as deputy leader of the Lib Dems and foreign affairs spokesperson, until she succeeded Vince Cable as party leader. During her short time as leader, she saw an expansion of the parliamentary party with defections from both Labour and the Conservatives. However, the Lib Dem campaign in the 2019 election failed to take off and Swinson again lost her seat to a resurgent SNP. Jo Swinson is now a visiting professor at the Cranfield School of Management and is a director of Partners for a New Economy.