A Bet On Jo Swinson To Become Prime Minister Now Looks Silly

Image source: David Spender – Flickr

At the start of the campaign she was adamant she could be the next resident of No.10 Downing Street. Now, in the final few days, however, she has admitted defeat. Her party now has an eye on coalition. Trouble is that the online betting sites in the UK like Bet365 know no one wants a coalition with them. That’s why the odds on a coalition with the Lib Dems is 22/1 at best and a bet on Jo Swinson to become Prime Minister are 100/1. History has come to haunt them again.

It was almost painful to watch. Like observing a yoga master bend himself over double backwards. The Liberal Democrats shuffled away from revoking Article 50, a major plank in their manifesto, last week. They instead talked up having a “people’s vote”, a position very much akin to that of the Labour Party. This was an obvious sign that no one was going to bet on Jo Swinson to become Prime Minister anymore. So the party is positioning itself for a coalition later.

Prime Minister Betting Odds at bet365

• Jo Swinson – 100/1
• Jeremy Corbyn – 4/1
• Boris Johnson – 1/7

The odds on a hung parliament are still quite short, so there could be room for this. In theory. Alas in practice, however, no one trusts the Liberal Democrats in coalition. Their betrayal of the middle class over tuition fees still haunting them even now. Who is to say what else they would be rid of to gain power? Only a lunatic would now use UK gambling laws to bet on Jo Swinson to become Prime Minister. Her party apparently don’t believe she can, so why should anyone else?

Tactical Change Of Position Looks Desperate

A bet on Jo Swinson to become Prime Minister has thus turned into a 100/1 joke. Almost as soon as she claimed she could, she rapidly discovered she couldn’t. With just days till the election her new position is eminently more sensible. It is just perhaps a little sad that with SNP support, however, Labour might not need them. The mathematics of coalitions is as complex as the Duckworth Lewis method. The only certainty is that Jo isn’t going to be leading Britain soon.

Bet On Jo Swinson To Become Prime Minister At Bet365

Bet365 and the like offering 100/1 on her entering No.10 is a bit of an insult. Stranger things have happened. The coalition possibilities, however, appear a little more worrying for the bookies when tactical voting comes into play. Many people in the UK will vote for anyone to keep the Conservatives without a majority. This is hard to estimate ahead of time. Tactical voting might not affect a bet on Jo Swinson to become Prime Minister but it could the election result per se.

2019 UK Election Odds at bet365

• Lib+SNP – 200/1
• Lib Minority – 150/1
• Con+Lib – 40/1
• Con+Brexit – 25/1
• Lab Majority – 25/1
• Lab+Lib – 25/1
• Lab+Lib+SNP – 22/1
• Lab+SNP – 11/1
• Con Minority – 11/1
• Lab Minority – 8/1
• Con Majority – 2/9

A grand coalition looks massively unlikely right now, but so did Brexit the day before that vote. Britain has a history of surprising the pollsters and punters. Just ask anyone who likes to bet on sports in the UK. Upsets do happen. A bet on Jo Swinson to become Prime Minister may well have become a joke, but not the Lib Dems. They may yet find themselves holding the keys to power in Westminster. It’s just unlikely they’ll give them to Mz Swinson to hold for very long.

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