Tag Archives: jo’s day

The final weekend of the campaign saw a massive push for votes by both leadership candidates.

But for Jo, Saturday was a special day. Her son Gabriel’s first birthday.  In a Twitter thread, she described the events of 29 June 2018.

The raw, beautiful, fierce power of birth is awe-inspiring. Our bodies are amazing. (10/10) pic.twitter.com/idIcXqoqNl

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 29, 2019

But before any birthday cake could be consumed, it was the final hustings of the campaign  at ALDC’s Kickstart event in Stratford-upon-Avon.

.@joswinson's summing up at @aldc #LibDemLeadership #LibDemHustings #JoinJo pic.twitter.com/iw38za3epz

— Aimee Challenor (@AimeeChallenor) June 29, 2019

@joswinson “I don’t think you can be a Liberal without being a feminist. We stand for the under-represented.
We live in a deeply unequal society and we need to change this. It’s not a priority, it’s an urgency” #LibDemLeadership #LibDemsSurge

— Jennifer Gray 🔶 (@Tzenh) June 29, 2019

An interesting graphic from the Sunday People for an article by Jo on Boris:

Boris Johnson’s only priority is himself. He doesn’t care about anything else and he doesn’t deserve to be Prime Minister. Read my column in @TheSundayPeople #JoinJo https://t.co/mvixGGOg8O

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 30, 2019

There’s plenty of evidence of Boris Johnson’s character in the public domain already.

We know he’s a liar. He’s been sacked for it twice – once by a newspaper and then by Michael Howard.

And that was long before he toured the country with a big fat lie emblazoned on the side of his bus.

We know he has no hesitation using hurtful, divisive language – calling black people picaninnies with water melon smiles or Muslim women letterboxes.

We know that he is irresponsible.

As Foreign Secretary his blunders were used as evidence by Iran against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

As London Mayor, he wasted public money on a series of vanity projects like a Garden Bridge to Nowhere and an airport in the Thames Estuary that never took off.

And she appeared on Ridge on Sunday:

Friday started with an endorsement for Jo (£) from the Independent:

Sir Ed trumpets his greater experience, which would serve the party well in such troubled times for the country. But we think Ms Swinson’s instincts on the critical issue of relations with other parties make her the right choice for Lib Dem members.

And a message on the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

50 years since the Stonewall Riots, 50 years of proudly campaigning for and celebrating equality and diversity. Great progress has been made, but the fight’s not over until all people in the UK & across the world can love freely #Stonewall50 https://t.co/nu5E1HddVL

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 28, 2019

The G20 needs to fix the world’s broken social contract, argued Jo in a piece for Wired:

We need a hopeful vision for the future, powered by a strong, liberal voice that understands that the new economy can neither be left to its own devices or be overly-managed by the state. Rather, it must be harnessed for the benefit of everyone. And it must take the public with us, building trust by placing liberal values of privacy, accountability, and transparency at its core.

The UK can and must be at the forefront of this change, leading the G20 and the world in creating an ethical tech-led economy centred on social well-being and environmental sustainability. That means overhauling how our society works, valuing the strengths of empathy, passion, and resilience that make us human, while embracing technology as an indispensable ally in meeting our biggest challenges.

In fairness to Ed, we do have to put a massive health warning before the next item. YouGov did a poll to determine the outcome of the next election around various scenarios of potential Labour Party policies.

On Wednesday, the world was incredulously amused at Boris’s revelation that he liked to make model buses.

Jo got it, though:

Leadership campaigns can be tough. Sometimes you need to relax… #JoinJo pic.twitter.com/brtxwTy4XE

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 26, 2019

Jo was also at the Climate Lobby

Great to see so many people travel from all over the country to meet their MPs & send a message to govt that they must act NOW to create a zero net carbon economy. @LibDems will keep the climate emergency at the top of the agenda. #TheTimeIsNow #JoinJo pic.twitter.com/aYy7EuPRqP

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 26, 2019

Onto the Lobby Hustings

Swinson says she doesn’t know if Boris Johnson is racist – but it is “not acceptable” to be careless with language

— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) June 26, 2019

And then a Facebook Live with our newest MP, Chuka Umunna.

Continuing our catch-up for the two leadership candidates.

On Tuesday, Jo’s interview with our former editors Mark Pack and Stephen Tall came out.

And sharing photos of constituency visits.

Monday started with Bollocks to Boris as well as Brexit- an article in The Times (£)

How much hardship will now be endured to satisfy Boris Johnson’s ego? How many families will find life harder for the sake of his ambition? How many patients will wait, propped up on plastic chairs in hospital corridors, for that £350 million a week he promised on the side of a bus?

One thing is for certain, Boris doesn’t care. Consequences are for other people. Just ask Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

And what do the Lib Dems offer?

Britain needs leaders who are up front and honest about the choices facing our country. I make no apology for wanting to stop Brexit — whatever version we end up getting will be a national disaster. And I’m not afraid to make that case to the British people.

The Liberal Democrats were the first to call for a people’s vote on the final Brexit deal and I am proud to have been the party’s lead in that campaign, working alongside people of all parties and none in pursuit of a common goal. The European elections have now proved that we are UK’s biggest and strongest party of Remain.

And tonight, she and Ed took part in the New Statesman hustings.

‘We are in a perfect position … our messages are resonating with young voters. Young people are demonstrating synergy with liberal values which we can reach out to.’ @joswinson #LibDemLeadership #joinjo

— Dominic Buxton 🔶 (@MrDominicBuxton) June 24, 2019

On improving diversity, @joswinson talks passionately about how it’s a job for each and every one of us to take responsibility to change this. Ask people to stand, be welcoming to people, really engage new members #JoinJo

— Elaine Bagshaw (@esbagshaw) June 24, 2019

Jo’s interview with the New European came out:

I ask Jo Swinson why she should lead the Liberal Democrats and she takes a deep breath and manages to get it out in all of three sentences. “I’m the best person to lead the movement because I can reach out to new voters, through traditional broadcast media, where I have a high profile, and through social media, where I have a high following.

I also think I can reach out across the generations and across the country. I have cross-party relationships and a non-tribal style, which I think is exactly what we need at the moment.”

And she talks about the need for a more diverse country:

I recognise that ours is still a racist country. We have not dealt with those issues as much as we would have liked to, even if there has been progress in some areas. I would hope that one day soon we could have a black leader of a political party.

Ours should be a country where every individual has an opportunity to thrive. That is not currently the case – partly on the basis of race, gender, disability, socio-economic background, sexual orientation or whatever – and, as it is, we are probably in line for another Etonian prime minister. Quite frankly, a large number of people are still not achieving their potential in our country, and, as a liberal, I am not happy with that and want to change it.

In Wales, she met Welsh Leader and Brecon and Radnorshire by-election candidate Jane Dodds.

Fantastic to be back in B&R for the Welsh hustings. Jane Dodds could be the new MP for Brecon & Radnorshire but we need your help! https://t.co/2YGQBd75Sl #JoinJo pic.twitter.com/KshUIOLNAV

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 22, 2019

And in Cornwall she was helping campaign for fairer NHS funding for the county:

Jo’s day started by tackling the Secretary of State for Scotland about the impact of Brexit and the prospect of No Deal on her constituency:

Brexit is already having an impact on East Dunbartonshire’s major employers. Aviva has announced that there will be job losses in the coming years, and a major engineering firm—an award-winning exporter—has told me about the negative impact Brexit is having on its business. Knowing what he does about the devastating impact on Scotland, how can the Secretary of State possibly countenance the no-deal or hard Brexit being offered by his colleagues in his party’s leadership election?

She was, with Ed, on the Jeremy Vine Show. Listen here from around 42:56.

On coalition, she said that we made the right decision to go in and we got a lot of things right but if we take the credit for successes we need to be honest about where we got it wrong – like the Bedroom Tax.

She attacked David Cameron for framing our relationship with the EU as a transactional relationship about benefits for Polish plumbers rather than a strategic necessity for our country.

She talked about a more pluralist politics where you work together with people in other parties.

And she was challenged on local Lib Dems fighting onshore wind farms which we are supposed to be in favour of.

She talked about targeting support for people who are impacted by particular policies.

Later,  she did a Facebook Q & A of her own:

An interview with the Press Association was reported in the Belfast Telegraph:

A busy day for Jo today.

Backing Stella Creasy on parental leave for MPs.

Fearless and formidable as ever, @stellacreasy!

I don't fancy IPSA's chances defending their outdated position against your campaigning force. Let's get this changed!

(and congratulations! 💕) https://t.co/Eg96Fk00CI

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 17, 2019

And appearing on Channel 4 News to talk about how important it was to do this in 2019.

Realising who Boris is really scared of…

Worried, Boris? https://t.co/lXrFX7tqU9

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 17, 2019

Tackling the health secretary on protecting our NHS data in future post Brexit talks

"There are fears NHS medical data could be on the table in part of a desperate, post-Brexit trade deal with the US."

The Lib Dems' Jo Swinson asks Health Secretary Matt Hancock for guarantees that "private companies will not be profiteering from NHS assets". pic.twitter.com/TkCYp6LX8j

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 18, 2019

And talking to the Times (£) about possible Remain pacts:

It’s the third weekend of the campaign and that means hustings. From the north west on Friday night, the hustings train moved to Leeds on Saturday morning and Nottingham in the evening.

She took time to remember Jo Cox, the Labour MP who was murdered 3 years ago today.

To honour Jo Cox, we must take inspiration from what she stood for – a passionate public servant who challenged hatred and believed our politics could be kinder, fairer, more inclusive. That spirit is more important today than ever beforehttps://t.co/v7whfFt47v#moreincommon

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) June 16, 2019

This Radio 4 profile featured some familiar voices and you can find out which band she liked as a teenager, listen to a  fascinating excerpt from a school essay and find out the first song at her wedding – as well as some anecdotes from her first election campaign.

And there’s always room for a Douglas Adams reference: