Jo Swinson, who was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats last week, says she has more ministerial experience than the leaders of the other main parties

Jo Swinson is sick of the Tory party’s Panglossian pronouncements on Brexit.

“I’m an optimistic person,” she says. “But you can only get so far with optimism. A Tory MP stood up last week and said with ‘pluck and determination’ Boris Johnson will triumph. We’re not in a Famous Five story! This is the real world.”

The Liberal Democrats’ new leader is more pragmatic. Her pitch is almost as the anti-Boris: sensible, conscientious, always studying the evidence. A proud feminist, she has campaigned against maternity discrimination and changed her mind about all-women shortlists.

“I spent 15 years trying to make the alternative work and now we have them and it’s fine.”

Jo Swinson: the Liberal Democrats’ first female leader

Swinson is a fighter, winning back the East Dunbartonshire seat she lost in 2015