Jo Swinson: Former 'Baby of the House' becomes Liberal Democrats' first female leader

MP for East Dunbartonshire beats former cabinet minister Sir Ed Davey

The mother-of-two’s interest in politics was piqued at a young age and she signed up as an active member of the Lib Dems at the age of just 17 (PA)

Jo Swinson has become the first female Liberal Democrat leader in the party's history.

The MP for East Dunbartonshire, who served as deputy leader for two years, beat rival candidate and former cabinet minister Sir Ed Davey to the role in a landslide vote.

Ms Swinson, who is from a suburb of Glasgow, went to a mixed state school in the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire in western Scotland. From there, she went to the London School of Economics, where she studied management.

The mother-of-two’s interest in politics was piqued at a young age and she signed up as an active member of the Lib Dems at the age of just 17.

She moved to East Yorkshire shortly after graduating from university in 2000 to work at Viking FM as the radio station’s marketing manager - a role she filled until going back to live north of the border in the run-up to the 2005 general election.

She took on former deputy Labour leader John Prescott, and was involved in a campaign to oust senior Tory David Davis, MP for Haltemprice and Howden.

She was first elected at the 2005 general election, serving until she was defeated by John Nicolson of the Scottish National Party in 2015 after a decade in politics.

She was a business minister by the age of 32 – rapidly carving out a reputation for effective campaigning and lending her backing to the party’s opposition to the Iraq war and ID cards.

Ms Swinson, who is just 39 years old, was known as the “Baby of the House”, the unofficial title given to the youngest member of the House of Commons, from 2005 to 2009.

The politician, who is married to former Lib Dem MP and anti-corruption campaigner Duncan Hames, wrote her book Equal Power: And How You Can Make It Happen before reclaiming her seat two years later at the 2017 snap general election.

A fervent climate change campaigner, she tabled a bill in 2007 aimed at reducing the amount of packaging used for products bought in shops and secured commitments from manufacturers such as Nestle and Cadbury to reduce excessive food packaging.

More recently, she descended on to the streets of London with Extinction Rebellion.

The politician has been an outspoken campaigner on maternity rights and equal pay. She became embroiled in a row about parliamentary maternity leave when Conservative whips broke a pairing agreement when she had just given birth to her second child.

The dispute saw the Conservative chair, Brandon Lewis, vote on a close amendment when whips had agreed he would abstain to cancel out Ms Swinson’s absence. It helped to instigate the introduction of proxy voting for MPs on parental leave.

The politician, who was one of the first MPs to embrace Twitter, ran a campaign at university to have internet connections in every room in her halls of residence.

A keen marathon runner, was made a CBE in the 2018 New Year Honours for political and public service.

At the time, she said she was privileged “to be listed among so many remarkable people from all walks of life, making amazing contributions right across our country”.