New leader has been vocal on party’s anti-Brexit policy and record in coalition government

Jo Swinson, the new Liberal Democrat leader, is something of a veteran in the party, even in parliament, despite not turning 40 before next year.

The party’s deputy leader and foreign affairs spokeswoman was just 25 when, in 2005, she took her home seat of East Dunbartonshire, becoming not just the “baby of the house” – the unofficial title for the youngest MP – but also the first Westminster representative born in the 1980s.

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She served as a junior minister in the coalition government and was a prominent party member until she – along with many other Lib Dems – lost her seat after the party’s near-wipeout in the 2015 general election.

She returned in 2017’s snap election and has become one of the party’s most visible figures, long considered the natural heir to Vince Cable.

Swinson has been vocal on a number of issues, including the Lib Dems’ record in coalition with the Conservatives.

In September, she said the party must “own the failures” of the coalition, citing the “hostile environment”, the bedroom tax and NHS changes as policies she particularly regretted.

Swinson said the party had been complicit in inflicting too high a price on the poorest to cut the deficit. “I’m proud of what we achieved, but I’m not naive or blinkered about it,” she told the Lib Dem conference.

“If we are to claim the successes of our time in government, we need to own the failures of it too. We lost too many arguments. When they fought dirty, we were too nice.”

She has also pushed for a strongly anti-Brexit stance, which has helped the Lib Dems reach their best poll ratings since 2010.

In announcing her leadership bid, Swinson called on remain voters from other parties to make the Lib Dems their permanent home.

A mother of two young children, Swinson was inadvertently at the centre of a row last year when it emerged the Conservatives had broken a “pairing” agreement with her while she was on maternity leave to try to swing a crucial Brexit vote.

The backlash helped push forward new plans for proxy voting by MPs.