Should Jo Swinson remain as Lib Dem leader?

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Odds on Swinson joining the Tory Party somewhere down the line? 

[Anubis]

If I was Swinson I'd get out. She'll get her parachute payment for losing her seat and she'll get her MP pension. Might as well try something new as put yourself through it all again.

[Mudface]

It's a real shame that she lost. Not because of her own little career, the sake of the country or future of the Lib Dems- just think of all the squirrels she's going to slay in a fit of murderous anger, the vicious bitch.

[clockspeed]

43 minutes ago, Pistonbroke said:

Odds on Swinson joining the Tory Party somewhere down the line? 

Peerage for a job well done

[Strontium]

1 hour ago, Moo said:

Strontium Dog, can you bring yourself to give an honest opinion on her now? 

 

You what? I never give anything other than an honest opinion on anything.

 

Truth be told, I was hoping for a bit of honesty from the other side, that hopefully now they can stop pretending she's a Tory. But it appears as if some of you at least actually believe it.

[Captain Turdseye]

She isn’t a Tory, to be fair. She’s not even an MP. 

[Moo]

1 minute ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

You what? I never give anything other than an honest opinion on anything.

 

Truth be told, I was hoping for a bit of honesty from the other side, that hopefully now they can stop pretending she's a Tory. But it appears as if some of you at least actually believe it.

So was she good for the Lib Dems? Or bad?  And what did you think of her approach to the election and with it stopping Brexit?  Do you believe stopping Brexit was her primary aim?  And what about styling herself as Jo Swinson's Lib Dems? 

[Denny Crane]

One of their own speaks. I think the more experienced Lib Dems advised her about revoke, revised her about taking Torys on board etc. Such is the devastating election result i can't nt even enjoy Sturgeon celebrating her demise. 

 

 

 

 

[Strontium]

Just now, Moo said:

So was she good for the Lib Dems? Or bad?  And what did you think of her approach to the election and with it stopping Brexit?  Do you believe stopping Brexit was her primary aim?  And what about styling herself as Jo Swinson's Lib Dems? 

 

Our vote share increased more than anyone else's in the election, so it's hard to argue she's failed on that score. Of course stopping Brexit was the primary aim, how could anyone argue otherwise? She didn't have anywhere near as big a profile as other party leaders, not helped by being excluded from TV debates etc, so I understand why they attempted to push her to the fore.

[Numero Veinticinco]

Vote share. Interesting stuff. Why would anybody be interested in a leader that puts vote share ahead of gaining seats, which is what actually matters. That’s bad leadership, not good. And it wasn’t because she was liked, it was remainer Tories like Rico, and remainers who didn’t believe in Labour. 

[Strontium]

4 minutes ago, Numero Veinticinco said:

Vote share. Interesting stuff. Why would anybody be interested in a leader that puts vote share ahead of gaining seats, which is what actually matters. That’s bad leadership, not good. And it wasn’t because she was liked, it was remainer Tories like Rico, and remainers who didn’t believe in Labour. 

 

Nobody puts vote share ahead of gaining seats, but it's kind of important to gain votes if you want to gain seats, it's sort of elementary to the whole election thing. Unfortunately we've dipped out in quite a few seats by a very small amount.

 

The biggest problem we faced in many places was winning over Tory waverers because they were so scared of a Corbyn government.

[Moo]

17 minutes ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

Our vote share increased more than anyone else's in the election, so it's hard to argue she's failed on that score. Of course stopping Brexit was the primary aim, how could anyone argue otherwise? 

The question wasn't if she failed to increase the vote share, it was if she was good or bad for the Lib Dems, overall? 

And it can easily be argued that the primary aim was not stopping Brexit as she never did a single thing during the election which could lead to that, particularly in our much maligned FPTP system. 

 

Avoiding answering questions, or answering your own version of them, is not honest.  It's much more honest to say "I don't want to answer that". 

[alles ist gut]

Ideally she should replace Rachael Riley on Countdown.

[Strontium]

1 minute ago, Moo said:

The question wasn't if she failed to increase the vote share, it was if she was good or bad for the Lib Dems, overall? 

And it can easily be argued that the primary aim was not stopping Brexit as she never did a single thing during the election which could lead to that, particularly in our much maligned FPTP system. 

Avoiding answering questions, or answering your own version of them, is not honest.  It's much more honest to say "I don't want to answer that". 

 

The Lib Dems are a political party. What is good for political parties is gaining votes.

 

"It can easily be argued" - yeah, if you ignore reality. She did her best to get MPs elected who would stop Brexit. It wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough. As I pointed out the other day, the biggest obstacle to change is FPTP.

[Numero Veinticinco]

5 minutes ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

Nobody puts vote share ahead of gaining seats, but it's kind of important to gain votes if you want to gain seats, it's sort of elementary to the whole election thing. Unfortunately we've dipped out in quite a few seats by a very small amount.

In our system that's too broad. It's important to gain votes in the right areas if you want to gain seats. She didn't lead your party in the right way to achieve that. Fuck, she didn't even win her own seat. I'm not saying gaining votes is a bad thing, I'm saying bragging about gaining votes - especially when you're the sole remain party preparing to represent 48% of people's open in this 'Brexit election' - is a case of winning a battle but losing a war. She lead badly, she achieved little, and she has gone. There's very little left to defend, just to move on, learn, and improve. Oh, and BTW, LDs in generally need to be less sneering and condescending to the people they want to win the votes of. 

[Moo]

6 minutes ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

The Lib Dems are a political party. What is good for political parties is gaining votes.

 

"It can easily be argued" - yeah, if you ignore reality. She did her best to get MPs elected who would stop Brexit. It wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough. As I pointed out the other day, the biggest obstacle to change is FPTP.

Well, if you're being honest then you're delusional. 

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Stood still on seats. A leader who started the campaign talking herself up as a genuine candidate for PM and ended it losing her seat. 

 

Yeah. They've had a boss election, the Lib Dems....

 

Utterly deluded! 

 

Meanwhile, this reaction was no doubt shared by everybody in the country who has suffered under Tory led and Lib Dem enabled austerity. 

 

Good fucking riddance, I say! 

 

 

[Moo]

1 minute ago, Nelly-Torres said:

Stood still on seats. A leader who started the campaign talking herself up as a genuine candidate for PM and ended it losing her seat. 

 

Yeah. They've had a boss election, the Lib Dems....

 

Utterly deluded! 

 

Meanwhile, this reaction was no doubt shared by everybody in the country who has suffered under Tory led and Lib Dem enabled austerity. 

 

Good fucking riddance, I say! 

 

 

Brilliant that from Sturgeon! 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Lib Dems only increased their vote count off the back of Brexit and actually lost a seat in their overall count, pretty pathetic when the country voted 48% to remain. They'll be fucked as a party again now that Brexit is happening. Or will they promise to bin Student fees in an attempt to con the electorate again....irrelevant party which just leans more and more to the right wing of politics. 

[Josef Svejk]

I didn't want to vote in a British general election. And I certainly didn't want to vote Lib Dem. But I did both. For tactical reasons. And fortunately our local Lib Dem MP kept the Tory candidate out. Even increasing her share of the vote.

 

Not that I feel particularly good about the whole thing...

[sir roger]

A lady called Layla Moran I supposed to be favourite , I'm not sure bit I think she was the Green Goddess on TV AM in the 80's

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

9 minutes ago, sir roger said:

A lady called Layla Moran I supposed to be favourite , I'm not sure bit I think she was the Green Goddess on TV AM in the 80's

She’s actually pretty fit in a Suzy dent kind a way

[Strontium]

Yeah, Layla is terrific. No coalition baggage, and she's also Palestinian, so an authentic voice for that oppressed people rather than one of the gaggle of bigots who profess to speak on their behalf (and needless to say, she rarely agrees with them).

[Josef Svejk]

7 minutes ago, arthur friedenreich said:

She’s actually pretty fit in a Suzy dent kind a way

She used to weigh 126kg. Fucking hell...

[sir roger]

2 minutes ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

Yeah, Layla is terrific. No coalition baggage, and she's also Palestinian, so an authentic voice for that oppressed people rather than one of the gaggle of bigots who profess to speak on their behalf (and needless to say, she rarely agrees with them).

Know nothing about her , but she sounds very interesting from your piece. Why did she not stand in the Swinson / Davey election ?

 

ps If she is anything like Suzie Dent I may go Lib Dem myself.