2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election  The 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election is due to be held in August 2020, after Jo Swinson, the previous leader of the Liberal Democrats, lost her seat in the 2019 general election. It was initially set to be held in July 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was delayed by six weeks, having been at first postponed to May 2021. Jo Swinson became leader of the Liberal Democrats in a leadership election in July 2019, following the resignation of Vince Cable. In that election, she beat Ed Davey, who became deputy leader of the party in an uncontested election among Liberal Democrat MPs. Swinson lost her East Dunbartonshire constituency to Amy Callaghan of the Scottish National Party in the 2019 general election by 149 votes. She had first won the seat when it was re-created in 2005, but lost it to John Nicolson of the SNP in 2015, before regaining it in the 2017 general election. The party leader is required to be a Member of Parliament. As per the party's constitution, when the leader loses their seat, the deputy leader and the party president automatically become acting co-leaders. Davey and Sal Brinton hence took over from Swinson as joint acting leaders, with Mark Pack replacing Brinton at the start of 2020 when her term ended. The party won eleven seats in the 2019 general election, one fewer than the number they won in 2017, but with an increased national vote share. The party's general election campaign was criticised by the former Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, who blamed the result on the party's platform of opposition to Brexit. Some Liberal Democrat MPs criticised the general election campaign for being "hubristic" with its initial message that Swinson could be the country's next prime minister. A timetable was set at a meeting of the party's governing body, the Federal Board, on 18 January 2020. Nominations were due to open on 11 May, after the local elections which were due to be held on 7 May 2020, and close on 28 May; voting would begin on 18 June and close on 15 July. The timetable allowed time for a review of the party's performance in the 2019 general election. In March 2020, the election was postponed to May 2021, after the local elections which had been postponed to that month due to the coronavirus pandemic. Reaction to this decision was largely negative amongst the party membership. The party's Federal Appeals Panel found that although the Federal Board was correct to suspend the election, it did not have power to set the May 2021 date.