Lib Dem leader Swinson loses her seat

Jo Swinson, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has narrowly lost her seat of Dunbartonshire East.

Having made the sweeping statement that she would be the next Prime Minister at the start of election campaigning, Swinson received 19,523 seats, 149 votes less than Amy Callaghan of the SNP.

In what she said will bring 'dread and dismay' to many prople across the UK, the Liberal Democrats are set to win 11 seats, one less than in 2017 and far less than expected given recent parliamentary defactions to the party and by-election gains of the last 12 months.

It appears the Lib Dem policy of stopping Brexit in its tracks was not as popular with the electorate as hoped for.

Swinson has now stepped down as leader of the party, with the next leader unclear. Potential leaders Chuka Umanna and Luciana Berger were both also successful in the election, with Berger falling short of expectations in her London region, trialling the Tories by more than 6,000 seats. Sam Gyimah, another Tory-defector, was also unsuccessful running for the Lib Dems in the capital.

Former leadership hopeful Ed Davey and Sal Brinton will take over as joint interim leaders.

One area for positivity for the Lib Dems saw Sarah Olney win the Richmond Park constituency seat from Conservative Zac Goldsmith, whilst also winning the St Albans constituency.