Newington's Tiffany Burrows looks at the next steps for the Lib Dems under their new leader.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Conservative leadership election is the only contest in town this week.

Whilst the Conservatives prepare for their new leader, and the country for its new Prime Minister, the Liberal Democrats have quietly chosen who will replace Sir Vince Cable MP as their leader. Yesterday afternoon, Jo Swinson beat Sir Ed Davey by 47,900 votes to 28,021.

You’d also be forgiven for asking why this election matters.

Ghosts of Coalition past

The Lib Dems have spent the years since 2015 in the political wilderness - rebuilding their identity, brand and policy platform following near electoral annihilation after the Coalition. William Hague predicted this would happen and told his wife in 2010 “I think I’ve just killed the Liberal Democrats”. It is clearly with this in mind that Swinson has publicly ruled out joining another coalition should the opportunity arise.

But nine years after the Coalition was formed, should an election be brought forward from 2020, it is increasingly likely that the Liberal Democrats could hold the balance of power.  Current polling points to another hung Parliament.

As we have seen from the DUP’s confidence and supply arrangement to support May’s minority government, there are ways outside of a formal coalition to hand someone the keys to Number 10.

The B word

The efforts of former leaders Tim Farron MP and Cable to rebuild the party after the days of coalition has enabled the party to cling on to defy Hague’s prediction.

The eight MPs the Lib Dems returned in 2015 increased to 12 in the 2017 election, including the return of both Swinson and Sir Ed to the House of Commons. But the real progress has been made in more low-key elections.

In local elections in May, the Lib Dems gained more than 700 seats, reaching a total of 1,352 councillors throughout the country. Their success was amplified in the European elections, where they overtook both Labour and the Conservatives to finish second to the Brexit Party with 20 percent of the vote.

Arguably, this resurgence can be attributed to one thing – Brexit.

Swinson, in her first email to Lib Dem members since becoming leader, has confirmed that stopping Brexit “is absolutely at the top of my agenda” and has outlined how the Lib Dems will “do everything in our power to stop it”. We can expect the opposition of the Lib Dems to a No Deal Brexit to intensify should Boris Johnson become PM tomorrow.

The courting starts now

In trying to derail Brexit, the Lib Dems should now be working the parliamentary tea rooms to woo wavering pro-Remain and/or fervently anti-No Deal colleagues on both sides of the House to join forces.

Given the high-profile defection of Chuka Umunna in June, and the botched efforts of The Independent Group for Change (and every other version of this), the Lib Dems have the foundation to generate more support as the custodian of the centre ground.

But it isn’t just MPs and members that Swinson and the Lib Dems have to persuade. It’s also the electorate. Whilst a week is a long time in politics, the public’s memory, and certainly perceptions, last a lot longer.

For the Lib Dems to be the electoral force Swinson wants them to be, they will not only need to come to terms with their time in Government (particularly with those affected by the rise in tuition fees in mind) - they must also create a policy platform which addresses the country’s challenges irrespective of what happens with Brexit.

The litmus test

For Swinson, the first test will be the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election on August 1. With the constituency’s EU referendum results a microcosm of the country (51.86 percent Leave vs 48.14 percent Remain), the Lib Dems will have to put the above into practice.

Maybe Jo Swinson is right. Maybe this is the time of the Lib Dems.