Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Leader of Liberal Democrats
Incumbent
Tim Farron MP

since 16 July 2015
Member of
Appointer Liberal Democrats membership
Inaugural holder David Steel and Robert Maclennan
Formation 3 March 1988
Website libdems.org.uk/tim farron

The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament also elect a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons, often colloquially called 'the Deputy Leader'. Under the federal constitution of the Liberal Democrats the leader is required to be a member of the House of Commons.

Before the election of the first federal leader of the party (the Liberal Democrats having a federal structure in their internal party organisation), the leaders of the two parties which merged to form the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Party and the SDP, served as joint interim leaders.

In the event that the leader dies, resigns or loses his or her seat in Parliament, the deputy leader serves as interim leader until a leadership election takes place. This has occurred twice, with Menzies Campbell serving as interim leader following the resignation of Charles Kennedy (Campbell was elected leader in the ensuing election) and Vince Cable serving as interim leader following Campbell's resignation.

List of Leaders and Deputy Leaders of the Liberal Democrats

Leader Deputy Leader Prime Minister
Name
Constituency
Portrait Term of office Name
Constituency
Portrait Term of office
David Steel1
MP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
(1938–)

&
Robert Maclennan2
MP for Caithness and Sutherland
(1936–)
3 March 1988 
16 July 1988
Thatcher
1979–90
1 Paddy Ashdown
MP for Yeovil
(1941–)
16 July 1988 
9 August 1999
1 Russell Johnston
MP for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber
(1932–2008)
16 July 1988 
13 April 1992
Major
1990–97
2 Alan Beith
MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed
(1943–)
13 April 1992 
12 February 2003
Blair
1997–2007
2 Charles Kennedy
MP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West until 2005
MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 2005
(1959–2015)
9 August 1999 
7 January 2006
3 Menzies Campbell
MP for North East Fife
(1941–)
12 February 2003 
2 March 2006
3 Sir Menzies Campbell3
MP for North East Fife
(1941–)
2 March 2006 
15 October 2007
4 Vincent Cable
MP for Twickenham
(1943–)
29 March 2006 
26 May 2010
Brown
2007–10
Vincent Cable (acting.4)
MP for Twickenham
(1943–)
15 October 2007 
18 December 2007
4 Nick Clegg5
MP for Sheffield Hallam
Deputy Prime Minister 2010–15
(1967–)
18 December 2007 
16 July 2015
5 Simon Hughes
MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties 2013–15
(1951–)
9 June 2010 
28 January 2014
Cameron
2010–present
6 Sir Malcolm Bruce
MP for Gordon
(1944–)
28 January 2014 
7 May 2015
5 Tim Farron
MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale
(1970–)
16 July 2015 
present

Notes:

Liberal Democrat Leaders in the House of Lords

The Liberal Democrat peers elect the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Until the election of Lord Wallace of Tankerness in October 2013, all previous Leaders had been members of the Labour Party who left to form the Social Democratic Party in 1981 before merging with the Liberal Party in 1988.

Leader in the House of Lords
Leader Took office Left office
1 Lord Jenkins of Hillhead
(Roy Jenkins.)
16 July 1988 1997
2 Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank
(William Rodgers.)
1997 2001
3 Baroness Williams of Crosby
(Shirley Williams.)
2001 24 November 2004
4 Lord McNally
(Tom McNally.)
24 November 2004 October 2013
5 Lord Wallace of Tankerness
(Jim Wallace.)
October 2013 Incumbent

See also

References

  1. "Nick Clegg resigns as Lib Dem leader". The Guardian. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  2. "Every major British political party – except the Conservatives – currently led by a woman". The Independent. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.

Sources

External links


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