Leaked emails expose turmoil at heart of Liberal Democrat leadership
Emails sent to The Guardian by a former aide reveal a culture of bullying and jealousy
The former aide, who claims to have been close to both Jo Swinson and Chuka Umunna, quit this afternoon in protest at Swinson’s refusal to work with Jeremy Corbyn in order to prevent the UK from crashing out of the European Union without a deal in place.
One email, purportedly sent by Umunna to Swinson on the day she was announced as leader, appears to suggest a tension between the two: “Just wanted to offer my congratulations Jo,” it begins, “but I can’t pretend I’m too thrilled at the result. You won’t be leader for long, I can promise you that.”
Another from Umunna goes as far as to suggest a possible coup: “If you choose to work with Corbyn things might go very badly wrong. Frankly, I and several others are absolutely not willing to stand by and watch you do that. It’s a fact that no-deal brexit is the best possible outcome for the party. You had better understand this quickly.”
Swinson, however, appeared defiant: “Chuka. We’re all very glad to have you on board, but you might be surprised at the kind of things I can have done. I know some bad people.”
Umunna claims several times that many others in the party are already dissatisfied with Swinson’s performance as leader: “What the party needs right now is a great white shark,” writes Umunna in a recent email, “and what they have is a minnow.”
Her reply was simple: “You’re pathetic”
