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Jo Grimond

Joseph "Jo" Grimond (29 July 1913 – 24 October 1993) was leader of the UK Liberal Party from 5 November 1956 to 17 January 1967 (succeeding Clement Davies and preceding Jeremy Thorpe) and from 12 May to 7 July 1976 (succeeding Thorpe and preceding David Steel). Grimond also served as MP for Orkney and Shetland from 23 February 1950 to 9 June 1983, succeeding Basil Neven-Spence and preceding Jim Wallace.

Biography[]

Joseph Grimond was born in St. Andrews, Scotland in 1913, and he was educated at Eton and Oxford. He was called to the bar in 1937, and he served in the British Army during World War II. He was elected to Parliament for the Liberal Party to represent Orkney and Shetland in 1950, and became the party's chief whip. In 1956, he succeeded Clement Davies as leader. Under his leadership, the party began to achieve successes in its by-elections, most notably at Torrington in 1958 and Orpington in 1962. The party's general election performance also improved, rising to twelve seats won in 1966, compared with six in 1959. Grimond's liberalism was a radical non-socialist alternative to conservatism. It involved partnership in industry between managers and workers, an expansion of education, electoral reform, and devolution for Scotland and Wales. He also looked forward to a realignment of the left in British politics, believing that moderates in the Labor Party would tire of doctrinaire socialism and links with trade unions. He left Parliament in 1983 and died ten years later.

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