[4] After Jo Swinson lost her seat at the 2019 general election, Brinton and Sir Ed Davey became acting co-leaders of the Liberal Democrats.

[5][6] After Brinton's term as party president ended, her successor Mark Pack also succeeded her as acting co-leader with Davey.

[9][10] Beginning her career in the mid-1970s at the BBC as a television floor manager, working on Playschool, Grandstand, Doctor Who, and other programmes, Brinton joined the Liberal Party in 1975[7] and became a Cambridgeshire County Councillor in 1993.

She stood at Watford at the next election in 2010, this time coming second behind Conservative candidate Richard Harrington and reducing Ward to a third-place finish.

[15] She also chairs the Liberal Democrat Diversity Engagement Group, with a particular interest in increasing the number of women, black, Asian, and minority ethnic MPs.