JO SWINSON was advised to stop saying she was going to be the next Prime Minister during the general election campaign but failed to follow her aides’ advice.
According to internal analysis by the Liberal Democrats on the party’s poor performance at the 2019 poll, the East Dunbartonshire MP was warned to stop saying she was the next UK leader during interviews, but it took five days before she did so.
The 61-page document states that party officials ignored tried and tested campaign slogans, and adds: “The same is true of the evidence around the message that Jo Swinson was going to be prime minister. That message, whether fairly or unfairly, went down very badly, a fact that was picked up reasonably quickly in the polling and on the doorstep, and yet it was still being used weeks later.”
A senior party employee told the report authors: “It took us the best part of five days to stop [Jo] saying it in press interviews.”
Ms Swinson stood down following the humiliating performance of 2019, during which she lost her seat to new SNP MP Amy Callaghan.
Nicola Sturgeon was memorably captured on film as the East Dunbartonshire result was read out, candidly celebrating that the SNP had taken the seat.
The report adds that the party had “a bad case of ‘happy ears’, hearing only what it wanted to hear or what it thought it deserved to hear.”
It also suggests personality clashes between senior employees at party HQ also caused problems and there was a “fundamental lack of collaboration” between party staff. Despite gaining members who were against Brexit, just 17% of the total membership of the party helped to campaign in the General Election compared to around 30% normally.
The report concludes: “There is an understandable sense of a missed opportunity in 2019, and a desire to find fault and consider recriminations. Where changes need to be made we are confident they will be made, but we need to start moving forward collectively.”
Ms Swinson has been rumoured to be eyeing a return to politics in the 2021 Holyrood elections, however she has not confirmed her intentions to stand.
The party is still to hold its leadership contest, with Ed Davey currently acting leader. The contest was due to start before the coronavirus pandemic hit, and all campaigning and conferences were suspended.
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