Joanne Kate Swinson CBE FRSA (born 5 February 1980) is a former British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from July to December 2019.

[3] Swinson studied at the London School of Economics, and briefly worked in public relations, before being elected to the House of Commons, becoming the youngest MP at the time.

[4] She was a Liberal Democrat Spokesperson covering various portfolios, including Scotland, Women and Equalities, Communities and Local Government, and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

[7] In July 2019, following the retirement of Vince Cable, Swinson defeated Ed Davey in a leadership election to become Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Swinson led her party through the 2019 general election, suggesting she could lead a Liberal Democrat majority government which would revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit.

[4] After graduating from the London School of Economics, Swinson moved to Yorkshire and worked for Ace Visual and Sound Systems in Thorne, before becoming a marketing and public relations manager for Hull-based commercial radio station Viking FM from December 2000,[15][16] and media company Space and People.

[17] At the age of 21, Swinson stood unsuccessfully in the Kingston upon Hull East constituency in the 2001 general election, but gained a 6% swing from John Prescott, then the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

[15] Swinson has also called for a "wellbeing index" to be introduced, to be compared against GDP, and tabled an early day motion on the issue in 2008, gaining 50 signatures.

Swinson cited the fact that although standard of living had increased, people's level of wellbeing had been virtually static for some time, according to polls.

[26] In December 2010, she was one of 27 Liberal Democrat MPs who voted in favour of allowing universities to raise tuition fees up to £9,000 per year.

[30] In September 2012, Swinson was appointed Under Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs in a reshuffle by then Prime Minister David Cameron.

[35] Swinson opposed forcing companies to adopt gender quotas, stating that such a move would "negatively affect" the performance of businesses.

[39][40][41] In October 2013, controversy emerged after MPs in the House of Commons allowed Swinson, then pregnant, to stand for 20 minutes without offering her a seat.

[60][61][41][62][63] At the same time, however, electoral projections for the 2015 general election showed Swinson was under serious risk of losing her East Dunbartonshire seat to a surge of Scottish National Party support.

[70][71][72][73] Swinson lost her parliamentary seat in the 2015 general election to Scottish National Party candidate John Nicolson by 2,167 votes (4.0%).

[76] Between 2017 and 2018, Swinson received political funding from Mark Petterson, the director of Warwick Energy Ltd, which has fracking licences across England.

[78] Following the resignation of Tim Farron as Liberal Democrat leader on 14 June 2017, Swinson was named by the BBC as one of the possible contenders for the leadership along with Norman Lamb and Vince Cable.

[81] At the Liberal Democrat autumn conference of 2017, Swinson drew media attention for using the phrase "Faragey, Trumpy, angry, arsey, shouty slogans" in criticising populism.

[90] In a March 2018 article for The Mail on Sunday, Swinson came out in favour of erecting a statue of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Parliament Square.

[99] Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis had formally agreed not to vote, so that Swinson's absence would not affect the result.

[100][101] Lewis apologised, alongside Cabinet Office minister David Lidington and government chief whip Julian Smith.

"[102] In May 2019, Vince Cable announced he would relinquish his role as leader of the Liberal Democrats in July, triggering a leadership election.

[103] Subsequently, while appearing on the 30 May edition of the BBC political discussion programme Question Time, Swinson confirmed that she would put her name forward in the forthcoming contest.

[108] In her first Leader's Speech to the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, on 17 September 2019, Swinson said that Boris Johnson "claims he can negotiate a Brexit deal in a month.

[126] Swinson ceased to be leader on 13 December 2019, when in the general election she lost her own seat in parliament to the SNP's Amy Callaghan.

[134][135] She ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon in March 2019 in memory of her father, who had died of blood cancer the previous year.

[139] On receiving the honour, Swinson said she was privileged "to be listed among so many remarkable people from all walks of life, making amazing contributions right across our country".