Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson told to 'wear lower cut tops' and speak differently to appeal to voters

Bronwen Weatherby9 December 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has revealed she was told to "wear lower cut tops" and to "speak differently" to attract voters.

In an interview on BBC Breakfast, Ms Swinson said she had received "unsolicited advice" about her appearance but said she chose to be "true to myself".

"I get lots and lots of unsolicited advice. I’m not short of people telling me that I should speak differently or wear different shoes or wear different earrings," Ms Swinson said.

"Or in one case, somebody suggested that I should wear lower cut tops.

"I mean as if that’s going to be the thing that changes the poll rating."

Ms Swinson made the revelations on the BBC
REUTERS

Ms Swinson said the advice did not come from her own election team.

The party leader also appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, during which she admitted it was unlikely her party would win a majority on December 12.

"‘I am who I am and some people will not like the way that I dress or talk or my accent or whatever," Ms Swinson said.

"And fine. In a sense that’s their problem. I’m going to stand here, do the best that I can arguing for the positions that I believe in because I do believe our politics can be better.

"‘And I’m going to be true to myself in the way I do it."

The latest polls show Lib Dems on course to secure 13 per cent of the vote, lagging far behind Labour who currently stand at 33 per cent, and the Conservative Party who are predicted to score 43 per cent, which would be the largest Tory majority since Margaret Thatcher was elected.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in