Jo Swinson’s political instincts give her the edge in this crucial Liberal Democrat leadership election

The party’s MPs could hold the balance of power at the next general election, so the result of this race matters to us all. That Swinson would also be its first female leader is a useful bonus

While the contest between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt naturally dominates media coverage of politics, another leadership election is taking place off the public’s radar.

It is easy to see why the race between Jo Swinson and Sir Ed Davey to become Liberal Democrat leader is attracting less attention than the Tory contest. At one point, there were 13 potential Tory candidates and only 11 Lib Dem MPs.

Yet the Lib Dem election matters. It takes place against a background the party could only have dreamt of a few months ago. The Lib Dems hoped for 250 gains at the May council elections in England, but secured more than 700. Then they won 20 per cent of the votes and 16 seats at the European parliament elections, pushing Labour into third place.

The party has deservedly reaped its reward for its principled stand on Brexit. It was the first party to advocate a Final Say referendum, sticking to its guns even when it failed to win over many of the 48 per cent. It has seen off the potential threat from Change UK, symbolised by the coup of attracting Chuka Umunna to its fold. It has high hopes of winning the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election on 1 August.

So Sir Vince Cable, the outgoing leader, hands over a much better legacy after two years in the post than he could have hoped for. His successor will not inherit a party fighting for its life but one with a solid foundation.

The new leader will take office in a new era of four-party politics, with the Brexit Party also challenging the stale old duopoly which only two years ago shared 82 per cent of the votes at a general election.

The Lib Dem advance in last month’s two elections cannot be dismissed as a mere protest vote. While the party would struggle to turn it into parliamentary seats under our archaic first-past-the-post system, the latest opinion polls suggest it could easily hold the balance of power after a general election – a prospect that looks increasingly likely if Boris Johnson becomes prime minister.

The Lib Dem contest matters to the whole country, not just to politically homeless voters, including many readers of The Independent, hoping to see a revival in the centre ground when Labour has shifted to the left and the Tories flirt with an economically damaging no-deal Brexit.

So far, however, this contest has not caught fire. Instead, the two candidates have found much to agree on. They have issued joint statements, not the usual fare of leadership elections. “I am struggling to see any differences between you,” Victoria Derbyshire, the BBC presenter, said when the friendly rivals appeared on her show on Thursday. “We like each other,” Sir Ed explained. (They even agreed on when they had broken the law – while speeding.)

Both served as ministers in the coalition government, with Sir Ed in a more senior role in the cabinet. Both made their mark: Sir Ed, as energy and climate secretary, won some important battles with the Tories; Ms Swinson was a forceful equalities minister.

Sadly, what some Lib Dems call their “C-word” – coalition – has not featured much in the party’s debate to date. It sometimes appears that senior figures would rather forget their five years in power than remind voters of the Lib Dems’ role in the coalition’s austerity programme. A better approach would be to learn the lessons from this period, as Sir Ed acknowledged at a hustings for Westminster journalists on Wednesday. Clearly, the Lib Dems were sometimes too nice for their own good: they allowed the ruthless Tories to claim the credit for Lib Dem ideas such as raising the personal tax allowance, before quietly gobbling up Lib Dem seats at the 2015 election.

The two candidates also need to outline an agenda beyond Brexit. The support the Lib Dems won at the European election may prove soft: many voters backed them because of Labour’s fence-sitting on Brexit and might not fully share their values. Jeremy Corbyn is no stranger to procrastination, but the Lib Dems cannot rely on this lasting forever: Labour may eventually come out unequivocally for a referendum and support for Remain. The new leader will have to consider whether, if the UK leaves the EU, the Lib Dems should become the party of Rejoin.

Although its policy is decided by its members, the leader has huge influence over organisational matters. A top priority must be to ensure Lib Dem parliamentary candidates are much more representative of modern Britain: the party’s record on diversity is surprisingly poor, and out of step with its own values.

There is a small but important difference between the two candidates over relations with other parties. Ms Swinson is more open to close cooperation and building alliances than Sir Ed, who has been more hostile towards Change UK and is pitching for the votes of Lib Dem members who take a more tribal approach. This makes the contest hard to predict. Of the party’s 107,000 members, more than half have joined since 2015, and 20,000 since 1 May.

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.

That she would become the party’s first woman leader is an added bonus. It would be a positive signal – and a reminder that Labour is behind the curve as the term of the UK’s second female prime minister comes to an end.