Jo Swinson is putting off voters because of ‘whingeing’, former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik says 

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Jo Swinson is putting off voters because of her ‘hectoring and whingeing’, former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik says

  • Former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik said Jo Swinson lacked the ’emotional gravitas’
  • He said Lib Dems would have done better to have chosen MP Layla Moran 
  • Swinson replaced gravitas with ‘whingeing’ and ‘hectoring’, says Mr Opik
  • She has an air of ‘schoolmistressy’ contradicting the party’s spirit of ‘tolerance’ 

By Simon Walters for the Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

The leader of the Lib Dems has been an election flop because she is hectoring and whingeing, a former MP for the party claims.

Lembit Opik, an MP from 1997 to 2010, said Jo Swinson was a ‘nice human being’ but lacked the necessary ‘emotional gravitas’.

He said the Lib Dems would have done much better to have chosen the highly-rated MP Layla Moran instead.

Former MP Lembit Opik (pictured in London, 2012) has said Jo Swinson was a ‘nice human being’ but lacked the necessary ‘emotional gravitas’ which led to the party’s plummeting results since the election was called

Support for the party has plummeted since the election was called, prompting criticism of the leadership skills of Miss Swinson, 39.

‘Jo is too young and has not developed emotional gravitas, that is the big problem,’ Mr Opik told the Mail Plus Order Order podcast.

Mr Opik says the Lib Dems would have done much better to have chosen the highly-rated MP Layla Moran (pictured on October 19) instead. The MP for Oxford is a 'radical maverick' with more appeal

Mr Opik says the Lib Dems would have done much better to have chosen the highly-rated MP Layla Moran (pictured on October 19) instead. The MP for Oxford is a ‘radical maverick’ with more appeal

‘She is hectoring and tries to replace her lack of gravitas with a whingeing attitude. Just getting elected to be leader does not give you a golden ticket to be a great leader. She started with goodwill but doesn’t look good compared to the others.

‘Whether or not you like Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn, no one says they are too inexperienced to be prime minister.’

Culture spokesman Miss Moran, who is MP for Oxford West, was a ‘radical maverick’ with more appeal and would be favourite to succeed Miss Swinson, said Mr Opik.

He was backed by Mark Littlewood, a spin doctor under Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell. He said: ‘Jo Swinson’s bossy schoolmistressy tone runs counter to the whole spirit of the Lib Dems as a party of tolerance.’

Jo Swinson walks with Ms Moran as they visit Trumpington Park Primary School in Cambridge, on November 20. The Oxford MP is Mr Opik's favourite to succeed Miss Swinson who is 'hectoring and tries 'to replace her lack of gravitas with a whingeing attitude'

Jo Swinson walks with Ms Moran as they visit Trumpington Park Primary School in Cambridge, on November 20. The Oxford MP is Mr Opik’s favourite to succeed Miss Swinson who is ‘hectoring and tries ‘to replace her lack of gravitas with a whingeing attitude’

He said: ¿Jo Swinson¿s bossy schoolmistressy tone runs counter to the whole spirit of the Lib Dems as a party of tolerance.' Here the Lib Dem leader is photographed speaking with Nurse Claudia David whilst visiting Bridge House Care Centre in Wallington to discuss care policy, on November 30

He said: ‘Jo Swinson’s bossy schoolmistressy tone runs counter to the whole spirit of the Lib Dems as a party of tolerance.’ Here the Lib Dem leader is photographed speaking with Nurse Claudia David whilst visiting Bridge House Care Centre in Wallington to discuss care policy, on November 30