Chair: Dr Christine Cheng, Senior Lecturer in International Relations

Speaker: Jo Swinson, former leader of the Liberal Democrats

What’s it like to be a women in politics these days? Join us for a fireside chat with Jo Swinson, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, about her experience in leading a political party in the UK during one of the most tumultuous periods in British politics. We’ll discuss Brexit, sexual impunity in Westminster, and how to inspire a new generation of women political leaders.

About the speakers

Jo Swinson is the former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom. From 2012-2015, as a Minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Jo introduced shared parental leave, extended flexible working rights, clamped down on payday lenders, increased penalties on employers failing to pay workers the minimum wage and changed the law to make gender pay gap reporting happen. After a decade in politics, Jo lost her seat in 2015. She went on to set up her own business and wrote her book Equal Power, before regaining her seat in Parliament in 2017 and becoming the party’s Deputy Leader. She was elected Leader of the Liberal Democrats in July 2019. She lost her seat in the 2019 General Election. She is currently the Director of Partners for a New Economy, an international donor collaborative that aims to transform the economic system to generate positive environmental and social outcomes.

Dr Christine Cheng is an award-winning author and Senior Lecturer in War Studies at King’s College London. At King’s, Christine teaches on the MA in Conflict, Security, and Development. She has also published on how gendered networks affect the selection of political party candidates. She has been a member of the Liberal Democrats’ Federal Policy Committee since 2017, having been elected for three consecutive terms. She was vice chair of the LibDems’ Britain in the World policy working group from 2017-2018. She currently chairs the LibDems’ International Security policy working group.