Jo Swinson

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Jo Swinson (born 5 February 1980) is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Dunbartonshire East constituency near Glasgow in Scotland. She is currently Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary and Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrats' Gender Balance Task Force.

Contents 1 Personal 2 Election 3 Political views 4 2006 Leadership Election 5 Political career to date 6 External links

[edit] Personal

Swinson was raised in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, and was educated at Douglas Academy in Milngavie and the London School of Economics, where she studied Management. After graduating with a first class degree, she moved to Yorkshire and worked as Marketing and PR Manager for radio station Viking FM.

[edit] Election

In 2001, Swinson stood as a Liberal Democrat for the Hull East constituency in the UK General Election, gaining a 6% swing from John Prescott, deputy leader of the Labour Party. In 2003, she unsuccessfully contested the Strathkelvin and Bearsden seat in the Scottish Parliamentary elections.

Swinson won a seat in the UK Parliament in the 2005 general election, beating John Lyons of Labour by 4,061 votes to take East Dunbartonshire. She is currently the youngest MP in the House of Commons, (informally known as the "Baby of the House") replacing fellow Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather. She is the first ever Member of Parliament born in the 1980s.

[edit] Political views

She is vocal in her opposition to the Iraq War and the Labour government's concept of National ID cards. Supports measures both by individuals and government to tackle climate change such as conserving energy in the home and the current Liberal Democrat policy of introducing green taxes while reducing income tax to offset the burden of this. She supports reducing the voting age to 16 as one way of engaging young people in politics. She believes more women should be involved in politics but that enouragement is better than coercion in achieving this; she is, for example, against positive discrimination to address this issue.

[edit] 2006 Leadership Election

She supported Ming Campbell in his successful bid to become Liberal Democrat leader, along with other young Lib Dems such as Sarah Teather. see Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2006.

[edit] Political career to date

(bold = current position)

• Shadow Scottish Secretary (2006- )
• Shadow Minister Department of Culture, Media and Sport (2005-2006)
• Member of Parliament, East Dunbartonshire (2005- )
• Vice Chair, Gender Balance Task Force (2004- )
• Scottish Parliamentary Candidate, Strathkelvin & Bearsden (2003)
• Honorary Vice President, Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (2002-2004)
• Westminster Parliamentary Candidate, Hull East (2001)
• Vice Chair (Campaigns), Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (2000-2001)
• Vice Chair, Liberal Democrat Youth and Students - job share with Ruth Polling (1999-2000)
• Secretary, Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (1998-1999)

[edit] External links

• Jo Swinson MP official site
• Jo Swinson MP profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
• Jo Swinson MP profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Jo Swinson MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Jo Swinson MP
• The Public Whip - Jo Swinson MP voting record
• Politics on Demand - includes regular Podcasts by Jo Swinson

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by: (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Dunbartonshire East 2005 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by: Sarah Teather	Baby of the House 2005 – present	Incumbent