Lib Dems Elect Jo Swinson as Party Leader

Jo Swinson has replaced Sir Vince Cable as the leader of the Liberal Democrats, following a two-month leadership contest.

In a contest that has largely been overshadowed by that of the Conservatives leadership battle, both Jo Swinson and Ed Davey have toured the country in recent months to sell their vision of liberal and democratic values.

The staunchly pro-remain Liberal Democrats are very much on the fringes of main-stream politics in recent years, having been decimated in the polls following their spell in government as part of the Con/Lib coalition of 2010-2015.

The Liberal Democrats have attempted to use their remain position as a sign of strength, to the point where it seems apparent that they are trying to build electoral pacts with other remain parties such as Plaid Cymru and the Green Party.

The new leader of the party has a lot of ground to make up however, as the Liberal Democrats are at a very real and high risk of becoming irrelevant.

The next election could see the Liberal Democrats fall out of the top four parties, or worse in British Politics, as the Brexit Party makes huge swathes of ground across the country.

The Liberal Democrats have at least tried to make a name for themselves in the lead up to and since their strong showing at the European Elections, through their “Bollocks to Brexit” brand, which they used in their election propaganda, and also had emblazoned on t-shirts worn by their MEP’s at the European Parliament.

The Liberal Democrats are the lead party of a remain-pact contesting the Brecon & Radnorshire by-election on 1st August 2019.  Jane Dodds is contesting the seat for the Lib Dems with the support of Plaid Cymru.  Dodds is expected to win the seat in a landslide from the Conservatives, although it is not seen as anything out of the ordinary, with the seat being a traditional Lib Dem stronghold.

The Liberal Democrats have 12 MP’s and 16 MEP’s.