Jo Swinson

Jo Swinson won East Dunbartonshire in 2005. She is a familiar face at the Business Department having previously been Parliamentary Private Secretary to Vince Cable from 2010-2012 before moving on in that role to support the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg. Jo was brought up in East Dunbartonshire, where she attended Douglas Academy in Milngavie. She graduated from the London School of Economics in 2000 with a First Class Honours degree in Management. After graduating she moved to Yorkshire and worked as marketing manager for the commercial radio station Viking FM, before moving back to Scotland to work as marketing manager for the small media business SpaceandPeople. She has previously held Liberal Democrat spokesmanships on foreign affairs, equality, Scotland and the arts. Jo was a member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee from 2007-2010 and was also the chairperson of the Liberal Democrats Women's Policy Working Group in 2009. As a backbench MP, Jo co-founded the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Allergy, Wellbeing Economics, and Body Image. Jo is also a member of the Ditchley Foundation’s Programme Committee. A champion of positive action rather than positive discrimination, Jo chaired the Lib Dem Campaign for Gender Balance from 2006 - 2008. Jo was a member of the Speaker's Conference from 2009-2010 which looked at ways to increase the number of women and black and minority ethnic MPs.