Jo Swinson loses her seat in East Dunbartonshire in major election upset for Lib Dems

WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson has dramatically lost her seat in a devastating blow for the party after touting herself as a potential prime minister at the start of the election campaign.

Ms Swinson, who represented East Dunbartonshire and is the party's first female leader, was ousted as she lost out to the SNP's Amy Callaghan by just 149 votes in the early hours of Friday.

It is the second election in a row where the Liberal Democrats have lost their leader and will be seen as one of the biggest upsets of the evening.

Speaking after the result, Ms Swinson said: "For millions of people in our country, these results will bring dread and dismay and people are looking for hope.

Jo Swinson reacts as she speaks on stage after losing her seat at the East Dunbartonshire
AFP via Getty Images

"I still believe that we, as a country, can be warm and generous inclusive and open.

"And by working with our closest neighbours, we can achieve so much more."

The Lib Dems were unlikely to make the gains it had hoped for as the election result became clearer.

While the party started the campaign strongly, Ms Swinson soon attracted criticism from some quarters both for the policy of revoking Brexit and for her previous record in coalition government.

Some critics branded her as coming across as a bit preachy, and ultimately her style failed to cut through with voters - including in her own constituency where she has narrowly lost to the SNP.

The turnout in Ms Swinson's constituency was 80 per cent.

Ms Swinson congratulated her SNP rival.

She said: "It is an amazing job, I'm sure you will love doing it and I wish you well and what you said about young women and smashing boundaries I wholeheartedly agree."

Jo Swinson has lost her seat
AFP via Getty Images

The Lib Dem leader thanked her family and party for their support.

She said: "I would also like to thank my agent, Liberal Democrat campaigners and activists who have made this campaign special."

General Election Night: December 2019 - In pictures

1/45

Ms Swinson added: "I particularly would like to thank my mum, my sister Nicola, my husband Duncan and our two darling boys Andrew and Gabriel."The 39-year-old has had two stints as an MP in the constituency, first from between 2005 and 2015, then secondly from 2017.

In 2017, former deputy prime minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg lost his seat to Labour by 2,125 votes.

The Lib Dems were unlikely to make the gains it had hoped for as the election result became clearer on Friday.

Ms Swinson began the Liberal Democrats' election campaign with the claim she could be the next prime minister.

She wanted to be known as leader of the self-styled "Remain Alliance" of anti-Brexit parties after taking the controversial policy stance that the Lib Dems would kill any attempt at EU withdrawal without the need for another referendum.

Ms Swinson became her party's first female leader in a landslide victory over Sir Ed Davey earlier this year, after the lacklustre leaderships of Tim Farron and Sir Vince Cable.

She had served as a minister in the coalition Government and was among the party's MPs who paid the price for the tie-up with David Cameron's Tories in the 2015 election bloodbath - which saw the Lib Dems reduced to a rump of just eight in the Commons.

Ms Swinson fought back when prime minister Theresa May called another election in 2017, regaining her Scottish seat from the SNP.

She also made history when she became the first MP to take her baby into a Commons debate when she took her second son Gabriel into a discussion on proxy voting in September 2018.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in