Tag Archives: Jo Swinson

Chloe Hutchinson

Some questions to potential candidates

By Chloe Hutchinson | Mon 19th June 2017 - 10:15 am

With the news that Jo Swinson is running for Deputy Leader, not Leader, my enthusiasm has hit a low point. We’ve been through some hard times as a party, and in areas, particularly Wales, we are still facing them, and the road ahead is not easy. At the moment I see no potential candidate that can spark my enthusiasm and take us forward.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We need someone that can win people over, winning over party members is one thing, but winning over the general public when we are seen as toxic or an irrelevance is a lot harder.

I’m sure all possible candidates are a) qualified enough and b) will bring something different to the table but is that enough? We must not go easy on them. Ask the difficult questions and don’t back down.

To the candidates: some preliminary questions worth thinking about …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 21 Comments
Jo Swinson MP

Jo Swinson MP writes..The role I want to play in our party’s leadership

By Jo Swinson MP | Sun 18th June 2017 - 4:29 pm

It feels like an age since I was knocking on doors in the pouring rain in the final hour before polls closed, then hearing the shock of the exit poll on the car radio heading home to a hairdryer and somewhat less bedraggled attire for the count.

Yet here we are just a few days later, embarking on an election for leader of the Liberal Democrats.

I went to see Tim on Wednesday afternoon to tell him I thought he should definitely stay on, and I was excited at the prospect of putting myself forward to be Deputy Leader.  I was stunned when he told me he would be resigning that evening.

Listening to Tim’s dignified statement, outlining the personal turmoil he felt during the election, I can’t fault him for deciding to step down, but I feel very sad that it came to this.  Tim has done so much for our party.  In the devastating aftermath of the 2015 election, to build a record membership and increase MPs by 50% in just 2 years is a massive achievement.  Just as important, is that we now have our most diverse Parliamentary Party ever.  We owe Tim a massive debt of gratitude.

Since his shock announcement, I have been overwhelmed by so many lovely messages from people I know, and from many members I have not yet met, encouraging me to stand for leader.  I am touched and flattered that you look to me – and I am determined to play a key role in our party’s leadership.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 112 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Willie, Christine and Jo celebrate Scottish Lib Dem wins

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 11th June 2017 - 2:34 pm

I could cheerfully have swung for Willie Rennie on Friday afternoon when he suggested an event on Sunday morning to celebrate our 4 Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs. I mean, it’s the first Sunday morning in 7 weeks most  of us could have had a lie-in. I thought nobody would want to go and it would be a disaster.

I was wrong. It was well-attended, there were broadcast and print journalists there and the atmosphere was great. There are, however,  two very important lessons to learn from the event, but more of that later. A huge crowd of people turned up at Jo Swinson’s campaign office in Milngavie. One person brought his two gorgeous and friendly  dogs, Caleb and Bella, who looked resplendent in their Jo Swinson rosettes.

Christine Jardine and Alex Cole-Hamilton came across from Edinburgh to join in the celebrations. Christine used to live in Bearsden and told how it was Jo who had inspired her to get involved in politics and stand for Parliament.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 18 Comments
NewsHound

Voter to Jo Swinson: “We’ve missed you”

By NewsHound | Wed 7th June 2017 - 10:25 am

The New Statesman has a profile of the East Dunbartonshire seat where Jo Swinson is hoping to regain the seat she lost to the SNP in 2015.

It’s clear that she is held in great affection by the voters:

The Liberal Democrat candidate is happy to play on her personal connection to the constituency where she was raised. This election has come so soon after the last one, at which Swinson lost the seat to the SNP, that she can run on her record. She had a reputation as a hard-working local representative, and voters seem to have retained a remarkable fondness for her. One young mum I encounter confirms Swinson has her vote, and then adds: “I feel connected to you. We’ve missed you.”

Another supporter admits that Swinson’s personality is swaying her choice. She dismisses sitting MP John Nicolson – “I don’t like him. Jo did more for us” – before turning to Swinson and softly saying: “I’m so glad you’re back.”

It’s impossible to tell if there are tears in Swinson’s eyes as she steps away from the doorstep, or just drops from the relentless rain. “When you’ve lost your seat and you know you worked hard, you know it’s not personal,” she says. “But still it’s nice when people actually say stuff like that and confirm it.”

And the New Statesman is on to the SNP’s spurious claims (which they are making in Edinburgh West and North East Fife too) that it’s the Tories that are their main opposition. 

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
The Voice

WATCH: A brighter Lib Dem future for Britain – with Tim, Andrew, Layla, Jo – and a cameo by Jasper

By The Voice | Thu 1st June 2017 - 11:50 am

The party has been producing some cracking videos lately. This one is bound to make you smile. In it, Tim talks about what Lib Dem MPs can do for their communities and highlights the key strengths of 3 of our key candidates. Andrew George on fishing, Layla Moran on science and Jo Swinson on business are featured.

And, if, like me, you are a fan of Tim’s Springer Spaniel, Jasper, you’ll be very happy indeed.

Enjoy.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Jo Swinson on support for victims of domestic violence and abuse

By The Voice | Mon 29th May 2017 - 12:04 pm

 

Jo Swinson has been responding to the Conservative plans on domestic violence.

Domestic violence and abuse is a horrific stain on our society and still all too often a hidden crime. Everything that can be done must be done to eradicate it once and for all. But let us be clear actions speak louder than words and Conservative cuts to local authorities have meant that funding for domestic abuse services have suffered, with some services having to refuse referrals from victims due to a lack of capacity.

Victims need more than just platitudes and unless the Conservatives are willing to invest the resources needed then nothing will change.

The Liberal Democrats would support victims of domestic violence and abuse and help them secure justice by reviewing the investigation, prosecution, procedures and rules of evidence in cases of sexual and domestic violence and guarantee funding for legal aid in domestic violence cases.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 2 Comments
NewsHound

Jo Swinson’s election car-share

By NewsHound | Sun 28th May 2017 - 2:55 pm

It is a truth pretty much universally acknowledged that East Dunbartonshire is one of the key battlegrounds and best hopes for a Lib Dem gain in the UK. Our Jo Swinson is fighting to regain the seat she lost to the SNP in 2015. I’ve been in the constituency twice this week and have been impressed by the number of Jo Swinson posters in people’s gardens. It feels much more visible than it did back in 2005 when she was first elected.

The Scottish Sun has done an election car-share type thing with her in which she talks about life in and out of politics – including her early days of campaigning back at school.

I tell you what I did crusade on at my school Douglas Academy. I was on the school council and one of the campaigns I ran was for uniforms to be changed so that girls could wear trousers if they wanted to.

“I didn’t particularly want to wear trousers but I thought it a matter of principle. I made my case about how it would be warmer if they could wear them in the winter.

“And I remember the assistant head saying to me quite pointedly, ‘Well it might be warmer than a very short skirt’.

She also talked about her experience working in the lingerie department of Marks and Spencer’s.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | Leave a comment
NewsHound

Swinson: I want to help get the country back on track

By NewsHound | Sat 13th May 2017 - 12:54 pm

Jo Swinson has been talking to the local East Dunbartonshire paper the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald about why she is standing for Parliament, hoping to regain the seat she held for 10 years until 2015:

She said: “It was a really close result last time and I loved working as a local MP for my home area, a community that I love and where I’d grown up. I would love to do that again. “That is coupled with a deep concern about the direction of the country. “There are real challenges ahead such as the Brexit negotiations and the uncertainty of another independence referendum. “I’m determined to do what I can to fight against another independence referendum and get the country back on the right track.”

She also talked about the issue of tuition fees, saying that she has learned from that experience:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 19 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems to introduce extra paid month of leave for fathers

By The Voice | Fri 12th May 2017 - 10:17 am

The Liberal Democrats will introduce an additional month of paid parental leave especially for fathers to encourage greater sharing of parental responsibilities.

The policy will build on our transformational achievement of introducing Shared Parental Leave in order to ensure that new parents can make the decisions which work best for their family.

Jo Swinson, who introduced the original Shared Parental Leave in the Coalition Government, said:

The Liberal Democrat introduction of Shared Parental Leave was a massive step towards more equal parenting, and recognising the vital role that fathers play. Parents across the UK have already benefitted from greater flexibility and freedom in how they share the care for their new baby.

But more needs to be done in order to encourage men to take leave when they become a dad, to bond with their child during the early weeks and months of their life. Research shows that fathers being more involved in their children’s lives is good for children’s development and good for the health and happiness of the whole family.

That is why the Liberal Democrats want to give dads across the country the chance to spend more time with their children.

A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to change the direction of this country. If you want an open, tolerant and united Britain, this is your chance.

Susan Kramer, Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Secretary, said:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Mary Reid

Big beasts

By Mary Reid | Mon 8th May 2017 - 1:52 pm

A press release from the Liberal Democrats today announces that ‘Big beasts return to Lib Dem front line as Farron announces election campaign team‘.

I’m not sure whether Jo Swinson, Vince Cable and Ed Davey like being referred to as beasts – what sort might they be?

But here is the full list of the new General Election Campaign Team:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 23 Comments
Rob May

Jo Swinson interview: part 5 – contemporary politics and what she’s doing now

By Rob May | Fri 5th May 2017 - 12:42 pm

This is the fifth and final part of an interview which took place during the Party’s Spring Conference in York. Events have somewhat overtaken it, as you will realise when you get to the end… The first part of the interview can be found here, the second part here, the third here and the fourth here.

As I’m sat opposite a prominent Scottish Lib Dem, I must ask you about the recent call by the SNP for a second Scottish independence referendum. What are your views on independence for Scotland and is Theresa May right to refuse …

Continue reading »
Posted in Interviews | 1 Comment
Rob May

Jo Swinson interview: part 4 – the battle for greater equality

By Rob May | Thu 4th May 2017 - 12:49 pm

In yesterday’s third part of the interview, Jo talked about a range of issues from Easter eggs to body image. Today, it’s the turn of equality issues, both in society and within the Party. The first part of the interview can be found here, and the second part here.

Perhaps, what you are best known for is your continual fight for gender equality. You were the Minister for Women through much of the Coalition. In your recent article in the Huffington Post, you paint a bleak picture of the current state of the road towards gender equality and what, as a society, we need to do at both macro and micro levels. In your heart of hearts, do you ever think equality for women will be achieved?

I challenge the premise of your question slightly. It’s not just about equality for women, but it’s also about equality for men. Gender inequality harms men as well as women. The words ‘gender’ and ‘women’ are not interchangeable. If you think about men’s role as fathers and about the pressure on males in terms of masculinity and what it means to be a man, the stats on male suicide rates and male mental health issues are really worrying.

Continue reading »
Posted in Interviews and News | 4 Comments
Rob May

Jo Swinson interview: part 3 – campaigns, social media and a political hero

By Rob May | Wed 3rd May 2017 - 12:48 pm

In yesterday’s second part of the interview, Jo talked about how she entered politics and, subsequently, Westminster. Today, the conversation turns to Easter eggs and body image… The first part of the interview can be found here.

Throughout your time in office, one of your bugbears appears to be excessive Easter egg packaging. Seeing as Easter is upon us, I thought it would be an apt topic to discuss. At face value, this doesn’t seem a particularly important issue, but when you realise that the excessive packaging causes thousands of tons of waste each year, it clearly is a reasonable concern. You started campaigning on this in 2007 and have even named-and-shamed the main culprits. Has the situation improved in ten years?

Continue reading »
Posted in Interviews | 1 Comment
Rob May

Jo Swinson interview: part 2 – first steps in politics and what it’s like to be a young woman at Westminster

By Rob May | Tue 2nd May 2017 - 12:54 pm

In yesterday’s first part of the interview, Jo spoke of how she entered politics and why. In today’s excerpt, she talks about what it is like to be a young woman in politics and how she dealt with it….

TIME IN POLITICS

From watching you on YouTube and from sitting opposite you here listening to you speak, you come across as very confident and it’s difficult to imagine you suffer from nerves. When you were 21 years old and stood for parliament, were you nervous? And do you still get nervous nowadays?

Of course. I was nervous going up

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Interviews | 1 Comment
Rob May

Jo Swinson interview: part 1 – an introduction and life before politics

By Rob May | Mon 1st May 2017 - 6:15 pm

Prior to this interview, I obviously knew who Jo Swinson was and was aware of some of the issues she has championed over her 10 years in office but, while researching her, I was surprised to find that a relatively young politician had been actively involved in so many campaigns. Jo’s avid use of social media combined with her willingness to openly and energetically support these causes has clearly enhanced her profile. Jo was one of the first politicians to take new and modem forms of technology seriously. She joined Twitter shortly after it went live and a simple YouTube …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment
News Meerkat

Fun on the campaign trail #1: Willie Rennie and Jo Swinson as Di Caprio and Winslet – or Sergei and Aleksandr

By News Meerkat | Sun 30th April 2017 - 3:25 pm

Back in 2005, there was a very dignified photo-op during the election campaign that had then Scottish Lib Dem Leader and Jo Swinson during her first election on a canal barge. It was played time and time again on the news.

Yesterday, Willie Rennie and Jo Swinson launched her campaign to win back East Dunbartonshire on a boat in Kirkintilloch.

The image from that is a bit more fun and perhaps not quite as classy as the 2005 event.

That made it into the Times Red Box briefing.

And there are signs that the Scottish Lib Dem press office are rivalling their London counterparts in the sass department.

Here’s that Meerkat Moment.

And here’s the video that Willie and Jo made to launch her campaign:

At the same time, Theresa May was in Scotland at on of her tightly controlled events where she’s allegedly meeting ordinary people so that she doesn’t need to subject herself to the scrutiny of millions on a tv debate. Willie’s had this to say about her visit:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Jo Swinson on Question Time

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 29th April 2017 - 8:26 am

Jo Swinson was on Question Time on Thursday and she was fabulous. She really took on Tory minister Damian Green with pithy and sharp interventions.

Here she is taking about the awful Rape Clause:

And on hard Brexit:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 11 Comments
The Voice

+++Breaking: Jo Swinson to stand for East Dunbartonshire

By The Voice | Wed 19th April 2017 - 4:29 pm

Great news:

In a statement, she added:

This next Parliament will be pivotal for our country, both for Scotland’s place in the UK, and the UK’s relationship with the rest of Europe.

I’m standing in the general election because I’m passionate about keeping Scotland in the UK, and averting the disaster of the Tories’ hard Brexit. Most people in East Dunbartonshire agree – 61% voted to stay in the UK and 71% voted to remain in the EU. They deserve a pro-UK, pro-EU MP.

East Dunbartonshire is the SNP’s second most marginal seat, with a majority of just 2,167 over the Liberal Democrats. The result last time makes it absolutely clear: this is a fight between the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, and one I fully intend to win.

I helped her get elected the first time round in 2005. She put so much work into it over the preceding two years. She worked part time and every morning she’d go out delivering. Every afternoon and evening she spent canvassing. She was disciplined, organised and effective. And she turned out to be a brilliant MP and Equalities Minister.

Her announcement comes after her old boss at the then Business, Innovation and Skills Department, Vince Cable, announced that he was standing for Twickenham:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 11 Comments
George Kendall

Social justice in a time of deficits

By George Kendall | Fri 17th March 2017 - 11:31 am

Liberal Democrats, and social democrats in the Labour party, share two key priorities. We want to improve social justice, and, to fund that work, we need to strengthen the economy.

We’ve often argued about the best way to do this, both within our parties and between them. But the decisions of the 2010-2015 parliament are behind us, and we need to look forward.

Unfortunately, deficits aren’t in the past. Since 2010, the deficit, when adjusted for the economic cycle, has fallen by about 40%. But it’s still around £65 billion a year. And the existing deficit is only one of our challenges.

Each year, the age profile of the UK gets older. As it does, the pressure on the NHS and other services increases, and the pressure on the government budget grows.

This will probably be made worse by Brexit.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Jo Swinson: if we lose focus, progress on gender equality can easily be lost

By NewsHound | Sun 12th March 2017 - 11:15 am

Jo Swinson has written a piece for the Huffington Post as part of their “All women everywhere” series in which she warns that progress on gender equality is under threat.

The chairman of Tesco’s board may feel that white men making up three quarters of his board constitutes being an “endangered species” but Jo sees the progress she made as a minister being eroded:

With the efforts of Vince Cable, Lord Davies, Helena Morrissey and many others we drove women’s representation in FTSE boardrooms up to record levels, yet Egon Zehnder found that the proportion of women appointed to Boards in 2016 actually decreased. The Equality & Human Rights Commission finding last year that 54,000 women a year lose their jobs due to pregnancy and maternity discrimination is shocking in itself, but even more so when you consider that this figure has almost doubled since 2005.

In all the metrics about how many years it will take to achieve gender equality in any given field we are used to depressingly distant dates like 2067 or 2095. For women in technology the answer to when equality will be achieved if current trends continue is never.

Some men, she remarks, see a tiny number of women in power as a threat. She wrote this before the Tesco Chairman’s comments so clearly proved her point but she cited the usual social media whinging about International Women’s Day:

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Richmond Park is an important milestone – but it’s only the start

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 2nd December 2016 - 9:58 am

Well, we’re winning parliamentary by-elections again. Who’d have thought it possible on that awful night almost 19 months ago?

Liberal Democrats everywhere are grinning this morning. We’ve seen the brilliant local government results over the past few months. We saw the amazing Liz Leffman surge forward in the Tory heartland of Witney in October. Now, we have actually won another MP.

We shouldn’t under-estimate how massive a task winning Richmond Park was. It’s only been 37 days since Zac resigned. We had just over 5 weeks to change the agenda from Heathrow to Brexit and win the argument. A combination of clever literature, a fantastic candidate and an army of activists prepared to drop everything did it. Way back in the 90s when we were winning by-elections all the time, we had at least 3 times as long to make our case.

We also shouldn’t under-estimate how important it was that we won this. It was a seat we used to hold with a whacking great Remain vote. If we hadn’t, even if we had had a Witney type surge, people would have doubted our ability to change the political weather.

Sarah Olney’s victory has shown that we have still got what it takes to win the big moments. That is incredibly important for the outside world to see. Theresa May will be hoping that her MPs in similar seats to Richmond, where there is Liberal Democrat history, don’t cause any further by-elections.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , and | 29 Comments
Caron Lindsay

WATCH Jo Swinson launch action plan on maternity discrimination

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 30th October 2016 - 11:25 am

Yesterday, Jo Swinson, as chair of Maternity Action, helped to launch an action plan aimed at tackling maternity discrimination.

If you think that this stuff doesn’t go on any more, take an hour out to watch the video of the event and you will see that it very much does.  A woman called Amelia tells the shocking story of what happened to her when she told her employers she was pregnant.

The video is available on Maternity Action’s You Tube channel here. Unfortunately, it’s not embeddable here, but do go and watch it.

Here are some tweets from the event:

The number of women adversely affected each year is staggering:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Jo Swinson to speak at event launching Action Plan on tackling maternity discrimination

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 26th October 2016 - 11:40 am

This Saturday, an alliance of groups including Maternity Action, chaired by former Lib Dem Minister Jo Swinson, launches an action plan aimed at tackling maternity discrimination. The event takes place at the excellent Resources for London venue in Central London, where the Social Liberal Forum Conference was held last July.

No matter where you live in the country, you can take part on Twitter by following #maternityrights and by watching the live stream here.

If you are able to go, you can still register here.

Here are some more details about the event:

Please come and join us as we launch our Action Plan to tackle pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination. Working together with a number of other organisations, under the group name the Alliance for Maternity Rights, we have developed a list of all the things that Government needs to do in order to tackle this shocking form of discrimination.

This issue affects women, children and their families, so bring your partners and your children and babies. We will have space to park buggies, a craft table for kids and refreshments for both children and adults.

The event will include a panel session with speakers from Maternity Action and NCT as well as hearing from a woman about her experiences of discrimination.  We will hear from:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Colin McGerty

Conference Countdown 2016: Looking forward to Lib Dem Disco?

By Colin McGerty | Wed 14th September 2016 - 10:02 am

For those of you heading to Conference in Brighton this weekend, I hope word has reached you by now that Cambridge Lib Dems are once again hosting the hugely enjoyable Lib Dem Disco in association with UK Music.

It was such fun last year that even Buzzfeed was astounded.

This year will see defending champion DJ Jo Swinson taking on the challenge from Kirsty Williams, Simon Hughes and the ALDC’s own Abi Bell. As before, your MC for the evening is one Julian “J Huppz” Huppert.

Things kick off at 10:30pm in the Balmoral & Buckingham Room, Hilton Metropole, Brighton on Saturday 17th September.

Please note that in previous years a special online discount was offered. This year tickets are all £10 each. We would like to apologise if this was incorrectly stated elsewhere. Naturally you can trust this now that you’ve read it on Lib Dem Voice!

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

Two reports highlight ongoing need for feminism

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 31st August 2016 - 11:12 am

Two reports today show that feminism’s work is far from done.

A worrying analysis from the Children’s Society says that 1 in 7 girls are unhappy with more than 1 in 3 being particularly anxious over their appearance.  Given the massive media pressure on what constitutes beauty, it’s hardly surprising that body image remains such a strong trigger of unhappiness.

Girls suffer significantly more unhappiness than boys and this feeds into greater rates of mental ill health.

It’s not difficult to see why if you look at the SRE Now tag on Twitter and read Laura Bates’ and Sarah Green’s recent Telegraph article which highlights the issues of sexual harassment girls face in school. Even in primary school, damaging attitudes about gender roles and consent are prevalent. Green and Bates say:

The evidence is not just anecdotal. A recent BBC Freedom of Information request revealed that 5,500 alleged sexual offences, including 600 rapes, were reported to police as having taken place in schools over three years. That’s an average of almost exactly one rape per school day. Meanwhile, a YouGov survey for the End Violence Against Women coalition revealed that almost one in three 16-18 year old girls experienced unwanted sexual touching at school.

Against this backdrop, we desperately need to educate children about concepts like consent, respect and healthy relationships. But at present, there is no requirement for schools to teach anything apart from the basic biology of sex.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 9 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Jo Swinson: The media’s reporting of the Child’s Review sums up why we are still light years from equality

By NewsHound | Sun 7th August 2016 - 12:57 pm

Recently Jo Swinson commented on the media coverage of the Childs Review, a report which made a number of recommendations about how the diversity of Parliament could be improved. The reporting put a huge emphasis on breastfeeding in the Chamber despite this having barely been mentioned in passing.

She wrote this for the Huffington Post:

None of these 43 recommendations are about breastfeeding. The word ‘breast’ is mentioned just twice in the body of the report, in a sub-section under recommendation 12 on page 21, which covers the need for a clear policy on maternity, paternity, parental,

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 23 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Online abuse might not break bones, but it can come close to breaking your spirit

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 22nd May 2016 - 6:22 pm

The internet is a pretty torrid place at the best of times. Some users delight in throwing rage, bile and abuse around the place. If you are a woman the abuse can be particularly graphic, sexualised and incredibly unpleasant.

In a feature for Radio 5 live, 3 politicians, including our former minister Jo Swinson, talk about their experiences of online abuse and how it affected them. Also taking part are my SNP MP Hannah Bardell and Labour’s Diane Abbott, who gets a whole load of racist bile thrown in just for good measure.

This is fairly routine for any woman who commits the “offence” of going on the internet in possession of an opinion. I’ve come in for it myself and it does wear you down. There was a time a couple of years ago where it really started to affect me badly and reduced me to tears on several occasions. The European elections disaster and the independence referendum combined to create what seemed to be a never-ending spiral of abuse. The most hurtful came from commenters on this site, members of the party, some of whom I actually know in real life, who said some pretty unpleasant personal stuff, but they were just part of it. It felt that wherever I turned, there was nastiness.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 30 Comments
The Voice

Jo Swinson: Why I now back all women shortlists

By The Voice | Sun 28th February 2016 - 1:18 pm

12496325_10207909151261642_614223791405517749_oBelow are the two speeches Jo Swinson made to Scottish Conference yesterday. The Diversity Debate took place in two halves. The first was on a constitutional amendment which would allow the Scottish Party to implement arrangements on gender balance which had been approved by conference. One amendment to that was submitted, and supported by the movers, changing gender balance to the much wider “diversity”. The risk of such an approach was that a 2/3 majority was needed for it to pass, but the working group had been advised that a constitutional amendment was vital to enable any new arrangements to be implemented.

It’s worth pointing out that in the intervening period, Jo has done so much to encourage and support women candidates, running training events and supporting so many as they embarked on selection campaigns.

Here is her speech proposing the constitutional amendment:

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 24 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Lynne Featherstone’s “Equal ever after” is out now – how same sex marriage became a reality (with added Lib Dem flouncing)

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 26th January 2016 - 5:26 pm

Lynne Featherstone Equal Ever AfterLast night, at a glitzy party, Lynne Featherstone’s book, Equal ever after was launched. In it she tells the story of  her crusade as Equalities Minister to deliver same sex marriage.

The launch was attended by Nick Clegg, Jo Swinson, Julian Huppert and many, many more. Sadly, I wasn’t there, even though I was in London. I was at a meeting of the Federal Finance and Administration Committee instead.

You have to wonder what position Jo Swinson was in when she took this:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Jo Swinson has new role at advertising watchdog

By The Voice | Wed 20th January 2016 - 11:45 am

Former Liberal Democrat Business and Equalities Minister Jo Swinson has been appointed as one of four new appointees to the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice. From Marketing Magazine:

As one of four new appointees to the BCAP (Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice) committee, Swinson will be responsible for advising on broadcast advertising codes of conduct.

Swinson is no stranger to advertising regulation, particularly surrounding the marketing industry’s portrayal of women, having in the past objected to ads.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Rob Heale
    Agree that we need to focus on strategy and have clearer messaging:- 1. We MUST prioritise membership recruitment in all we do, including PPB's, most leaflets...
  • Kira Collins
    Disappointed. The most obvious means of reducing energy bills is to remove VAT. Relatively straightforward to do and does not adversely impact on the attractive...
  • Nonconformistradical
    "As a party we are aware of the absolute disaster our country’s current benefits system has become, where so many sticking plasters have been added by well-me...
  • Tom Bailey
    I cannot believe this is a serious policy proposal. This is just amateur scribblings on the back of a fag packet....
  • Katharine Pindar
    Competence and hard work do certainly win us council seats, I suppose, David Evans, and I would suggest 'stability' and 'reliability' as partner virtues we can ...