1976 Liberal Party leadership election explained

Election Name:1976 Liberal Party leadership election
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1967 Liberal Party leadership election
Previous Year:1967
Next Election:1988 Social and Liberal Democrats leadership election
Next Year:1988 (SLD)
Election Date:7 July 1976
Image1:File:DavidSteel1987_cropped.jpg
Image1 Size:160x160px
Candidate1:David Steel
Colour1:ffd700
Popular Vote1:12,541
Percentage1:64.1%
Image2 Size:100x100px
Candidate2:John Pardoe
Colour2:ffd700
Popular Vote2:7,032
Percentage2:35.9%
Leader
Before Election:Jeremy Thorpe
After Election:David Steel

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

Background

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, with their vote "weighted" by the strength of the Liberal vote at the previous general election. This electoral system was devised by Michael Steed, and this election proved to be the only time it was ever used to elect a Liberal leader.

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.

Results

CandidateVotes%
David Steel12,54164.1
John Pardoe7,03235.9

References