John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was the Liberal Party MP for North Devon from 8 October 1959 to 3 May 1979, succeeding James Lindsay and preceding Anthony Speller. From 18 January 1967 to 10 May 1976, he was Leader of the Liberal Party, succeeding Jo Grimond and preceding David Steel.
Biography[]
John Jeremy Thorpe was born in London, England in 1929, and he was educated at Oxford and called to the bar in 1954. He was elected as the Liberal Party MP for North Devon in 1959, and became Liberal leader in 1967. He planned a Liberal electoral breakthrough in 1970 with his Great Crusade, but it was not until a number of by-election successes in the early 1970s that the party significantly increased its support. He led the party to 19% of the vote in February 1974 (although this only meant six seats in the House of Commons), and was offered a coalition by Edward Heath. He rejected this as Heath was not committed to electoral reform. He resigned as leader in 1976, following allegations of homosexual conduct. He was acquitted of subsequen tcharges of conspiracy to murder just after he lost his seat in the 1979 general election. He died in London in 2014 at the age of 85.