We've had a great first day at conference

Jo Swinson Leader of the Liberal Democrats

This evening, I had the pleasure of welcoming Sam Gyimah onto stage at Lib Dem conference, as our eighteenth member of Parliament. Sam Gyimah is a fantastic Remain campaigner. He was one of the 21 Conservative MPs that had the whip removed for helping us to stop no deal. He is a man of principle, and I'm so glad he's joined the Liberal Democrats this evening. Sam joins Chuka Umunna, Sarah Wollaston, Jane Dodds, Phillip Lee, Luciana Berger and Angela Smith in joining us in recent weeks. And it's not just MPs. We've been seeing the biggest and most sustained membership surge in our party's history in recent months. We've had 40,000 new members join us, 20,000 more register as supporters, and we're surging in the polls. There is something special happening in the Liberal Democrats. Labour and the Conservatives are led by ineffective leaders and have been taken over by the extreme wings of their parties. It is clear that people are rallying around the Liberal Democrats as the strongest party to

Jo Swinson: ‘We are moving to an election. The question is whether it is in weeks or months’

© Charlie Clift