Scottish MP Jo Swinson has become the first female leader of the Liberal Democrats, defeating Ed Davey to win the party's top job.

The East Dunbartonshire MP succeeds Vince Cable after securing the support of 63% of party members, with 47,997 votes compared to Kingston and Surbiton MP Davey's 28,021 (37%).

She is the first Scot to lead the party since Menzies Campbell, and the first to lead one of the main UK parties since Gordon Brown.

At 39, Swinson is also the youngest leader of any major UK party since David Cameron won the Tory leadership in 2005.

The result was announced in London on Monday after weeks of campaigning, with Swinson - deputy leader since 2017 - considered the frontrunner throughout.

The Lib Dems - who want to keep Britain in the EU - have been riding high in recent opinion polls, although their leadership campaign has been overshadowed by the Conservative leadership contest.

Tuesday will see the winner of the race to become the next PM announced, with Boris Johnson the favourite over Jeremy Hunt.

Swinson spoke following the results announcement and said she was "delighted, honoured, absolutely over the moon" to become the first woman to lead the party.

She promised to do "whatever it takes to stop Brexit" and pledged to lead the "open liberal movement" that "our country so desperately needs".

The new Lib Dem leader said: "Tomorrow, Boris Johnson is likely to take the keys to Number 10 and set us on a path to a damaging no-deal Brexit.

"Stopping Boris, and stopping Brexit is my number one priority as leader.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie welcomed Swinson as "the fresh, positive new leader who will take the Liberal Democrats to greater heights".

He added: "Jo provides a stark contrast between the indecisive Jeremy Corbyn and chaotic Boris Johnson and will lead the country away from the forces of populism and nationalism.

Constituency: East Dunbartonshire

Age: 39

Born: Glasgow

University: London School of Economics

First elected: In 2005, when she was the youngest MP in the House of Commons.

Family: She and former MP husband Duncan Hames have two sons aged five and one.

Lost her seat... in 2015 to the SNP's John Nicolson, in the nationalist surge of that year, before winning it back in the 2017 snap election.

Came out in favour of... erecting a statue of Margaret Thatcher in London's Parliament Square, on the grounds that she helped "transform the fortunes of women".

Served in the Coalition Government... as employment minister from 2012 to 2015. She has said her party "got it wrong" in backing the 2010 increase to tuition fees in England - but she has also defended the policy of austerity as necessary at the time.

Campaigned... successfully in 2011 to ban two L'Oreal magazine adverts, of actress Julia Roberts and supermodel Christy Turlington, on the basis that they were "excessively airbrushed" and "misleading".

On the SNP... "Scottish voters have made their feelings clear on both independence and Brexit. They want Scotland to remain part of the UK and the UK to remain part of the EU, and the Liberal Democrats are the only party standing up for them. The SNP need to focus on tackling the big issues that people in Scotland face, not continue this constant constitutional wrangling."

On Jeremy Corbyn... "He is a Brexiteer and he is a danger to our country... he can lose councillors, MEPs, his party members can vote for things at the conference and he still can't say the words I want a people's vote."

On Boris Johnson... "The only thing Boris Johnson cares about is Boris Johnson... he claims he can renegotiate the deal by October when he knows he can't, which means his real plan is to leave with no deal. A no-deal Brexit will leave our NHS in crisis, our economy in tatters and cause immense hardship to the lives of people up and down the country. But he doesn't care about consequences. That's why the Liberal Democrats say Bollocks to Brexit - and Bollocks to Boris too."