Jo Swinson has been preparing to be a party leader nearly all her life. At school she was a letter writer, petition signer and member of the debating club and the school council. She has been a member of the Liberal Democrats since she was 17. In 2001, when she was 21, she wore a T-shirt with the words "I am not a token woman" to party conference.
Now, after 12 years as an MP and two years as a government minister, she has beaten Ed Davey to become Lib Dem leader — and the first woman to hold the post — at a time when the party is enjoying its best poll ratings for years. For some, the question is: what took her so long? When Tim Farron was forced to step down after the 2017 snap election, there was some confusion in Westminster over why Swinson didn’t go for it then.
Family reasons played their part (her second son Gabriel was born the following year) but allies believe she quietly bided her time, convinced there was a better moment ahead. "A lot of people told her this opportunity might not come again," a friend of Swinson told BuzzFeed News. "But Jo has a quiet, determined self-belief, she knew it wasn’t the right time."
A former party staffer said: "She avoided the fag end of the coalition era, when we were punished at the local elections. People scratched their head about why she didn’t stand [in 2017] but it’s been proved right. You get to take over a party that’s probably going to win Brecon [and Radnorshire by-election], we’re 20% in the polls."
Swinson’s election has coincided with arguably the most volatile, unpredictable time in politics for generations. With the Conservatives and Labour increasingly polarising public opinion in the wake of the European Union referendum, the Lib Dems have a golden opportunity to attract swathes of voters searching for a new political home. The party was the biggest winner of England’s local elections in May, gaining more than 700 councillors and several councils; just weeks later it swept up votes from Remainers in the European elections, coming second behind the Brexit Party, leaving Labour trailing in its wake.
Swinson is aiming high, convinced that the Lib Dems can make huge gains at the next general election — whenever it may be — which could put her in Number 10. That may be ambitious but there’s no doubt that she will play a big part in British politics at a crucial moment, and yet she remains, for most, an unknown quantity.
BuzzFeed News has spoken to Swinson’s friends, colleagues and political rivals to get a fuller understanding of what drives her and how she will respond to leadership. The result is a complex picture: a person who has been gearing up for this challenge all her life but finds it hard to act instinctively; who takes the time to write personal notes of gratitude but has been accused of being "overbearing" towards her staff; and who believes, ultimately, that she has been consistently underestimated.
There is one word that nearly everyone uses about Swinson: prepared. She has always been someone that is ultra organised and likes to be extensively briefed before taking part in TV interviews or House of Commons debates. A number of sources told us that the briefing pack she wanted for her BBC Question Time appearances was three or four times bigger than those given to other Lib Dem colleagues.
"I’ve never come across someone who over-prepares for everything like her," one source said. "She wants everyone's viewpoint so you’re never sure where an idea comes from." Allies said this was in part due to a lack of confidence, especially early on (she entered parliament aged 25), and partly because of her nature. "She’s become more confident in herself over the years," one said. "It’s still there, and will always be there, but not to the same extent."
Fellow Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine, who has known Swinson for over a decade, told BuzzFeed News: "I don’t think you can ever be over-prepared. We have seen in other parties the problems it can cause if you’re not properly prepared. Jo doesn’t say anything without being fully briefed and being aware of the implications of what she’s saying. That's one of her biggest strengths."
But her high expectations of staff can cause problems. Two separate sources recalled seeing a young female member of staff in tears after one meeting with Swinson and said there were other incidents where staffers felt she had been "brusque" and "unappreciative". "I have a very distinct memory of how she made a female member of staff cry just by being overbearing and over-demanding," one source said.
This was particularly grating to the staff involved, the insider said, because at the same time they were receiving press releases about Swinson's new book Equal Power, a dissection of gender inequality.
A spokeswoman for Swinson said she was unaware of the specific incident and so was unable to comment. A source close to Swinson said she was "passionate, diligent and had high standards", and pointed out that women leaders are often portrayed as "difficult" while men are "decisive and strong".
Caron Lindsay, a Lib Dem activist and long-time friend of Swinson, said she had never heard of staff being upset. "She expects a lot of the people around her," Lindsay told us. "She will say what she thinks and she doesn’t bear a grudge. People make mistakes, you have to say something, and sometimes that can feel critical."
She recalled how Swinson had made demands of party activists during the 2005 general election campaign, when she was first elected for East Dunbartonshire in Scotland. “She said, 'I need you to take out 300 leaflets in the morning and 300 in the afternoon'," Lindsay said. "We all did it and that's what we needed to do to win the seat. Any manager sets objectives of their staff and the people around them."
A friend of Swinson, who worked on her leadership campaign, said she would grow into the role of leader. "If I was going to offer a criticism of Jo, she is very demanding — not only of herself but of others, the quality of what they produce, the time she expects them to give," they said. "And she is pretty by the book. I’d like to see her be more creative, show some more of that passion, she needs to act instinctively and with a bit more flair."
Swinson grew up in East Dunbartonshire, just outside Glasgow, before studying management at the London School of Economics (she graduated with a first class degree aged 20). One of her first jobs was as a marketing manager for Viking FM, a radio station based in Hull, where she organised a school tour with rock band Busted as well as pub crawls to promote the station’s new breakfast show.
When she was 21, she unsuccessfully stood against John Prescott in Hull East at the 2001 general election and again failed to win a seat at the Scottish parliament two years later. But she was victorious in 2005, beating Labour in her home seat by 4,061 votes. She is married to former Lib Dem MP Duncan Hames (their first dance at their wedding was to 'Better Together' by Jack Johnson) and the couple and their two young boys now divide their time between London and her constituency.
Swinson lost her seat in 2015 to the SNP, undoubtedly paying the price for joining with the Tories in coalition, and regained it in the snap election two years later with a 5,339 majority. She was promptly promoted to deputy leader under Vince Cable. It hasn’t been the closest of partnerships — "they’re quite yin yang", one staffer said, and Cable likes to keep to himself — but they have got along well enough professionally.
There have been concerns from Swinson, however, about being kept out of the loop, according to one source. In June, she was on her way back to Scotland on a Thursday evening when she found out that Chuka Umunna, the former Labour MP, had joined the Lib Dems — a huge moment for the party. As deputy leader, Swinson was apparently "incandescent" that she was unable to attend the press conference the next day, unlike her rival Davey who has a London seat.
Swinson’s team has denied this version of events and said she and Davey were told the news at the same time. Swinson was "frustrated" to not be at such a major event, they said, but she recorded a video message from Scotland.
Cable was also allegedly annoyed with Swinson when she returned to parliament in 2017 for failing to do enough media appearances as deputy leader. With the party depleted to just 12 Lib Dem MPs, Swinson was in high demand by party bigwigs to appear on TV and radio to promote its policies. But a source said she "pretty much disappeared" when she was asked to do media, and the party had to rely on the "absolute heroes" such as Tom Brake, MP for Carshalton and Wallington, who would always show up when needed.
This was particularly disappointing for the party because, with the exception of Cable, she was "the only person who had that media cut-through who could get on big shows", one source said. Allies of Swinson pointed out that she had a baby in 2018 and was splitting her time between London and Scotland.
But one friend said she did not always like putting herself out there: "She would have sometimes thought ‘Do I have to? Am I making myself a target here?' She’s much less like that now." They said that while she had always been confident as an MP, her confidence as a key spokesperson had grown gradually over time. Yet during this leadership contest, Swinson herself has underlined her proficiency at media as one of the main reasons she should get the job. "In terms of visibility in the media … I get a lot of coverage and that’s what the Liberal Democrats need," she told Channel 4 News.
Meanwhile Swinson has been letting loose on Twitter during the campaign, kicking off with a video teaser on friend Jardine’s account with the hashtag #shesrunning. She also chalked up hundreds of retweets mocking Boris Johnson’s unexpected model bus confession, and wrote a 10 tweet thread on her son's first birthday remembering the pain, joy and wonder of childbirth.
Party sources said she had made a conscious effort to lighten up on social media, aware that she was not showing enough of her personality to members. "She can be much more gregarious and light-hearted behind closed doors and I think people do want to see personality from their leaders," one ally said.
"We are in a cultish personality era, and I think to compete — we’re not bobbing along at 7% any more — we need to be prepared to take more risks, do something a little more edgier, more controversial. I think that's going to be the real challenge for her because that won’t come easy."
Swinson is a self-avowed geek who loves nothing more than playing board games with her mates; she told Channel 4 News that she played Diplomacy and Civilisation on holiday, with one game lasting two days. She has also run several marathons and recently ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon in memory of her father who died of blood cancer last year, and who had a big influence on her politics and determination to succeed.
Lindsay said: "I think in her 20s she held herself back a little bit because she was expected to be the serious politician. Now I'm kind of loving the fact she’s grown in confidence, giving zero hoots. She is now coming to the absolute top of her game. I think she has the potential to be a really great leader and she has the intellectual capacity to be an excellent prime minister, because she has that way of connecting with people."
Party insiders said the first few months of her leadership will be critical and it is in Swinson’s favour that a large proportion of the public won’t have formed any opinion about her yet. Jardine said she would be a "different type of political leader".
"Jo's politics are based in reason and logic," she said. "She would be reaching out across the House to other like-minded people in other parties to find a way out of this mess we're in at the moment. She'd find a new way of working rather than the old tribal way of doing things."
Swinson has always tried to call out sexism and ageism, particularly in parliament where she was the "baby of the House" when she first became an MP in 2005. The archaic term was anathema to her and she hated the seemingly forced chivalry towards her from male MPs, saying it only reinforced gender stereotypes.
In parliament she has championed equal rights such as shared parental leave, proxy leave for MPs with new babies, and body image and the portrayal of women in advertising. An ally of Swinson said she had been "unfairly pigeonholed" as someone who was only interested in feminist issues. "She has a really lively, inquiring forensic mind, especially on technology and foreign affairs," they said.
During the coalition years, she faced criticism over her handling of sexual misconduct allegations against former Lib Dem chief executive and peer Chris Rennard. A number of women had come to Swinson with concerns about him that were then not formally followed up. An inquiry by Alistair Webster QC found in 2014 that the allegations were "credible" but there was a less than 50% chance they would meet the "beyond reasonable doubt" criminal threshold.
Swinson herself has said she regrets not pushing harder to encourage formal written complaints from the alleged victims. A source close to her said: "It upsets her that people think she towed the line on Rennard. There were a tonne of people who did not want this made public."
Her relationship with Lib Dem peers more generally will be a fundamental challenge for her in the coming months. Sources said the House of Lords group was increasingly "calling the shots" because it pays for many of the party’s policy advisers and could decide to base them in the Lords if it wanted. That’s because the party has far less "short money", the cash allocated to them for duties in the Commons, now it has only 12 MPs. Meanwhile Swinson is expected to move party HQ back to Great George Street after Cable moved his team into parliament.
Her team is expecting Labour to attack her hard over her time in coalition, where she spent two years as a business minister, and her record on workers’ rights. Labour is also expected to bring up the Rennard scandal at every opportunity.
Even Swinson's strongest critics in the party, however, told us she was a kind and thoughtful person who goes out of her way to do things for others. Former staffers recalled how she would be the first person to send a card to a colleague whose relative was ill, for example. Lindsay said: "She has an incredible generosity and kindness. She has done so much to help other women into positions of power and advised them throughout; the thing about Jo is she gives excellent advice."
Jardine, a former journalist, said she was one of the women Swinson had persuaded to run for parliament. "Before the 2010 election, Jo was phoning me on a daily basis asking 'how are you getting on?'" she said. "And I remember in the 2017 election, Jo phoned me and asked me to support a female candidate who lived nearby. She’s very supportive of all of us: when I was going through an incredibly difficult personal period, Jo was there."
Allies of Swinson said she wanted to prove to people she has what it takes to be a great leader. "Until it became clear she was a frontrunner, I think she’s been consistently underestimated," one source said. "It’s a combination of her gender, her age, and the fact she is professional and diligent. If you shout louder or be more controversial, then it’s easier — and the bar for men is even lower. She has stayed true to herself."