About Jo Swinson

Jo Swinson was elected MP for East Dunbartonshire in May 2005, beating the sitting Labour MP by 4061 votes, and was re-elected in May 2010. She has previously held portfolios on foreign affairs, equality, Scotland and the arts. Jo was a member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee from 2005-2010 and was also the chairperson of the Liberal Democrats Women's Policy Working Group (www.realwomen.org.uk).

Winning East Dunbartonshire was third time lucky for Jo, having stood for Parliament twice before. In 2001 she achieved a 6% swing to the Lib Dems as the candidate against the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in Hull East. Jo also stood for the Scottish Parliament in Strathkelvin & Bearsden in 2003, increasing the Lib Dem vote by 4%.

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. Jo then worked in Yorkshire as Marketing & PR Manager for the Emap radio station Viking FM (www.vikingfm.co.uk), where she project-managed a 5 day radio event that received a Sony Radio Academy Award nomination. In 2002 Jo moved back to East Dunbartonshire and to take up the post of Marketing Manager for Glasgow-based media business SpaceandPeople (www.spaceandpeople.com). In her time there she helped the company win Best E-Business at the Scottish Winners at the Web Awards 2003, and set up the Live Brand Experience Association trade body.

An active member of the Liberal Democrats since 1997, Jo was Secretary and then Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrat Youth & Students and launched the campaign website www.scraptuitionfees.com. A champion of positive action rather than positive discrimination, Jo chaired the Lib Dem Campaign for Gender Balance (www.genderbalance.org.uk) from 2006 - 2008. Jo was a member of the Speaker's Conference from 2009-2010 which looks at ways to increase the number of women and BME MPs (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/spconf/449/449.pdf). Jo is one of the first MPs in the UK to use Twitter (www.twitter.com/joswinson) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Jo-Swinson/20487968781).

Outside politics, Jo enjoys running, and completed the Loch Ness Marathon in 2007 and the Beatson Pebble Appeal half marathon in 2009. She also likes reading, hiking, and ceilidh dancing.