Today, Jo got the backing of the leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, Willie Rennie:
Sometimes it’s a battle to get the best media coverage for the party so we need a leader who has the skills necessary to be heard loudly.
“Jo is an excellent communicator and she’ll be a fantastic champion to take on the forces of nationalism and populism.”
He added: “Jo is a fantastic campaigner, who showed the determination and campaigning skill the party needs when she won her seat back from the SNP, and I’m excited to see how she brings all that energy and hard work tohttps://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/lib-dem-jo-swinson-on-unity-proxy-voting-a4162056.html the role of the leader of our party.”
And she told the Standard that she has no limits to the ambitions for the Lib Dems:
“Our job in British politics is clear,” says Swinson. “We are the rallying point for Remain, for people with liberal values. I don’t put any limits on the ambitions of the Lib Dems. Who knows what will happen — no one expected Corbyn to become leader of Labour, no one expected Trump to be President. We have a fracturing of the political system. This is an opportunity. I absolutely recognise the scale of the task but people want a different way of doing politics.” She is working with the former Change UK MPs and “recognises the courage it takes to leave a party you’ve been in for a long time”.
And she and Ed both ruled out Indyref2.
There are three hustings meetings this weekend – in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Newcastle.
And she was duly nominated:
I’m delighted to be standing to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Our politics is fracturing, and I believe the country is crying out for a liberal movement that can stand up to the forces of nationalism and populism.
I want to lead the Liberal Democrats so that we are at the heart of that movement, and reach out to the millions of people who share our values and want an alternative to the hard-right Tories and hard-left Labour.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Brechtian television: Leo McKern in Galileo (1964)
Good news on political donations?
Conference booked
Are Labour going to cross another red line?
David Garlick
Tristan Ward
Joey Vimsante
Nick Baird
Tara Foster
4 Comments
The thing that worries me is Time, its running out. The Tories dont want an Election but there may be no choice, this Government could disintegrate at any moment. There is also the possibility that the New Tory Leader could get a bounce in the Polls & call a snap Election.
As things stand the idea of Farage as PM is nightmare that could easily come true. Corbyn isn’t going to save us, we need a Liberal/Progressive Movement that includes The Greens & we need to get it by the Autumn. I just worry that we have a lack of urgency about the terrible danger facing our Country.
All this talk of ‘movements’ worries me. I am in a political party and I want it to succeed. I am always happy to work with others to achieve specific goals [like staying in the EU] but a rather vague arrangement like a ‘movement’ is a recipe for confusion.
I want a clear assurance from the person I vote for that s/he will be leading and promoting the Liberal Democrats, not some nebulous ‘Liberal movement’ that could mean different things to different people.
There may, in a few cases, be a rationale for local agreements to fight a specific election, but as our experience with the SDP showed very clearly, building an agreement between just two parties was a huge distraction from political campaigning. Trying to do it with more than two parties will be almost impossible, especially as both the Greens and ChUK have all but ruled it out.
So I will be wanting to hear from our two potential leaders how they will lead the party and how they will build it into an election winning machine that can finally implement the policies I have campaigned for for over 50 years: electoral reform via STV; real devolution to English regions and real powers going back to local councils; a democratically elected second chamber; an economic system that gives fair shares to all; an environmental policy that sets us on the road to overcoming or mitigating climate change; a welfare system that gives everyone a decent basic income so we can overcome poverty and a taxation system in which everyone pays fair tax and the wealthy can no longer avoid or evade it.
Over to you Ed and Jo
I share my fellow septogenarian (if I recall correctly) Mick Taylor’s concerns about the vague talk about ‘movements’. We are in mold breaking territory. What is required is experience and finesse. Chuck has failed and only a few of their MPs appear to Liberal. If some of them want to join us that’s fine but they should be carefully vetted. I Would suggest that a key test should be their commitment to the human rights of those of all faiths and none.
@John Payne. 69 actually. 10 months till I become a septogenarian.