Liberal Party (UK) leadership election, 1976

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The 1976 Liberal Party (UK) leadership election was called following the resignation of Jeremy Thorpe in the wake of allegations which would eventually lead to Mr. Thorpe's trial and acquittal for conspiracy to murder in 1979.

There were two candidates, David Steel and John Pardoe, who were elected by a ballot of an electoral college made up of representatives of the various constituency associations.

The election was won by David Steel, who served as leader of the Liberal Party until merger with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1988, forming the Liberal Democrats. David Steel later served as interim leader of the Liberal Democrats (jointly with Bob Maclennan of the SDP) for the duration of the 1988 leadership election which eventually elected Paddy Ashdown as the new party's first permanent leader.

[edit] Results

Candidate		Votes	%
	David Steel	12,541	64
	John Pardoe	7,032	36

[edit] References

• David Boothroyd. Liberal Party Leaders. Retrieved on 2006-01-16.

Liberal, Social Democrat and Liberal Democrat leadership elections
Liberals: 1967 | 1976                         SDP: 1982
Liberal Democrats: 1988 | 1999 | 2006