People taking the mick out of Jo Swinson’s battle bus is just beautiful

Jo Swinson
Emily Apple


It’s officially an election now that the first battle bus has been revealed. Unfortunately for Jo Swinson and the Liberal Democrats, though, the big reveal got off to a bad start; because people soon took to social media to take the piss. Fortunately for the rest of us, it provided some much-needed comic relief at the expense of the party that just can’t seem to stop misleading voters about marginal constituencies or fabricating quotes.

It’s a failed band!

The bus, emblazoned with Swinson’s face, also has the tagline “Jo Swinson’s Liberal Democrats”. Many thought this made the Lib Dems sound more like a rock band than a serious political party (and as people pointed out, not a successful band at that):

 

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It gets worse

Another Angry Voice was one of several Twitter accounts that highlighted the irony of the bus, given accusations that the Labour Party is somehow a ‘cult of personality’:

And she certainly didn’t impress one local constituent:

Some wondered how long it’d be before Chuka Umunna gets his own bus:

And others took the piss and reminded everyone what the party currently stands for:

Finally, some just couldn’t believe that it was real:

In all seriousness…

The mick-taking is beautiful. But it’s beautiful because the Lib Dems are such a rotten party, and Swinson such a rotten leader. Her voting record is appalling. She consistently voted to reduce welfare and benefits, including cutting payments for people with illnesses or disabilities. She also voted to cut the Educational Maintenance Allowance for 16-to-19-year-olds. And she helped to raise university tuition fees, despite promising not to as one of the key policies that helped elect many Lib Dem MPs in 2010. Her track record on environmental issues, meanwhile, shows she supported the badger cull, fracking, and HS2.

Meanwhile, the party has already faced accusations that it’s trying to mislead voters. In several seats that are clear Labour/Conservative marginals, the Lib Dems are claiming they can win. Journalist Adam Bienkov tweeted one such example:

In fact, in 2017, the Conservative Party took 44.1% of the vote, and Labour 40.78%. The Lib Dems, meanwhile, convinced only 11.62% of the electorate to vote for them. And unsurprisingly, the ‘tactical.vote’ website recommends voting Labour.

This type of manipulation is, in fact, a real problem for the Lib Dems (and a problem for anyone who cares about a fair and democratic election). Because it means that, in the few seats that are genuine marginals, people may not vote for them. The party may simply become ‘the child that cried wolf’, and no one will believe them when it’s real.

Even in the seats where the Lib Dems could win, meanwhile, it’s going to be an uphill battle to attract voters. Because most people would rather stick themselves in the eye with a knitting needle than vote for this lot of lying yellow Tories.

Featured image via YouTube/Channel 4

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