2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

Last updated

2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
February 2003 2006  
  Sir Ming Campbell MP 2008 cropped.jpg Malcolm Bruce, September 2009 cropped.jpg
Candidate Menzies Campbell Malcolm Bruce
Popular vote3122
Percentage58.5%41.5%

Deputy Leader before election

Alan Beith

Elected Deputy Leader

Menzies Campbell

The 2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election took place in February 2003, following the decision by the incumbent, Alan Beith to stand down as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, a political party in the United Kingdom. The post was voted on by the party's then 53 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.

Contents

The election was expected to be contested by Simon Hughes, who had come second in the 1999 leadership election, but in the event he declined to run, instead running to be Mayor of London in the 2004 elections. [1] In the event the candidates were Menzies Campbell, the party's foreign affairs spokesperson, and Malcolm Bruce, spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [2]

Result

Only ballot: February 2003
CandidateVotes%
Menzies Campbell 3158.49
Malcolm Bruce 2241.51
Turnout53100
Menzies Campbell elected

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Hughes</span> Former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a former British politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, an External Adviser to The Open University, and UK Strategic Adviser to Talgo. Hughes was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014, and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark from 1983 until 2015. He declined a position in the House of Lords in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menzies Campbell</span> Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem,, often known as Ming Campbell, is a British Liberal Democrat politician, advocate and former athlete. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from 1987 to 2015 and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Beith</span> British politician

Alan James Beith, Baron Beith, is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Brake</span> British Liberal Democrat politician

Thomas Anthony Brake is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carshalton and Wallington in London from 1997 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Davey</span> Leader of the Liberal Democrats, MP for Kingston and Surbiton

Sir Edward Jonathan Davey is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 and as Deputy Leader to Jo Swinson in 2019. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton since 2017, and from 1997 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Clegg</span> British media executive and former politician

Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg is a British media executive and former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam from 2005 to 2017. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been associated with both socially liberal and economically liberal policies. Clegg has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vice‑president of global affairs and communications at Facebook from 2018 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Farron</span> Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Timothy James Farron is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005 and is currently the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Prior to entering politics, he worked in higher education.

In the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Sir Menzies Campbell was elected to succeed Charles Kennedy as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom.

This timeline of events in the Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2006 lists the events covering the period from Charles Kennedy's initial call for a leadership election with the Liberal Democrats to the conclusion of the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election.

The 2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on 2 March 2006, when the sitting Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, was elected leader of the party. Campbell had been deputy leader since February 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leader of the Liberal Democrats</span> Most senior politician within the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom

The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the head and highest-ranking member of the party. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a deputy leader of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons, often colloquially referred to as the deputy leader. Under the federal constitution of the Liberal Democrats the leader is required to be a member of the House of Commons.

The 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as leader on 15 October 2007, after 19 months as leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. Vincent Cable, the deputy leader of the parliamentary party, was acting leader until the conclusion of the leadership election. The result was announced on 18 December 2007 with Nick Clegg winning by a narrow margin of 1.2%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Democrats (UK)</span> British political party

The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast. They have 14 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 83 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has over 2,500 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules, the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007, and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Kennedy</span> Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Charles Peter Kennedy was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015.

The 2010 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on 26 May 2010, when the sitting Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Vince Cable, announced his resignation following his appointment as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. Nominations closed on 2 June, and the balloting took place on 9 June. The election was won by Simon Hughes.

The list that follows is the Liberal Democrats Frontbench Team/Shadow Cabinet led by Charles Kennedy, who was Party leader from 1999 to 2006. The Party began to refer to its Frontbench Team as a Shadow Cabinet during Kennedy's tenure as leader.

The 2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on 18 December 2013, when the incumbent Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Simon Hughes, was appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, and opted to resign his party position to focus on his new post.

The 2017 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Tim Farron as leader on 14 June 2017, after just under two years as leader of the Liberal Democrats. At the close of applications on 20 July 2017, Vince Cable was the only nominated candidate and was therefore declared the new leader of the party.

The 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the announcement of the resignation of Vince Cable as leader on 24 May 2019, after just under two years as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom. The two candidates to succeed Cable were Ed Davey and Jo Swinson.

The 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held in August 2020, after Jo Swinson, the previous leader of the Liberal Democrats, lost her seat in the 2019 general election. It was initially set to be held in July 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was delayed by six weeks, having been at first postponed until May 2021.

References

  1. "Campbell to run for Lib Dem deputy leader". The Guardian. 5 February 2003. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  2. "Lib Dems elect deputy leader". BBC News Online. 12 February 2003. Retrieved 11 February 2021.

See also