The More Voters See of Lib Dem Leader Jo Swinson, the Less They Like Her: Poll

Britian's opposition Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson speaks at the annual Confederatio
BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

A poll has revealed that British voters dislike Jo Swinson, the leader of the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats, more now than when she became party leader.

Polling analysis published in The Times has revealed that while Ms Swinson has become more known amongst voters since she took over the Lib Dems in July, those opinions have become more negative — even with Remain voters.

The analysis of four months of YouGov polls found that amongst Remainers those who have formed a negative opinion of the MP for East Dunbartonshire has risen from 18 per cent to 33 per cent. While across the general public, 31 per cent of voters had a positive view of the Liberal Democrats compared to 53 per cent who had an unfavourable opinion.

The report comes as the Liberal Democrats and the pro-EU Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) lost their Supreme Court challenge on Monday to force broadcaster ITV to invite them to tonight’s leadership debate. On Tuesday, leading contenders Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will face off in the first public debate of the election period.

Ms Swinson believes that her fringe party could win a majority in the December 12th election. Under a Liberal Democrat government, the “bollocks to Brexit” MP said that she would cancel the Leave result altogether by revoking Article 50.

A Survation poll published this week confirmed a similar trend, with voters’ preference for Ms Swinson as prime minister at just 15 per cent, down six points from September. However, not much farther ahead is Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on 16 per cent, down two per cent in that same period. Conservative Party leader Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a preference rating nearly three times that of the Opposition leader at 47 per cent, up six points in two months.

The Tories are leading in the polls across the board. An ICMResearch survey puts the Conservatives at 42 per cent, Labour on 32 per cent, and the Lib Dems on 13 per cent.

A Survation poll published on Monday revealed an even wider gap between the Tories and Labour — 14 points  — with the Conservatives on 42 per cent, Labour on 28 per cent, the Lib Dems on 13 per cent, and the Nigel Farage-led Brexit Party on five per cent.

Last week, the Conservatives saw its largest poll point lead since the election was called, at 14 points over Labour, according to a YouGov survey conducted on behalf of Sky News.

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