Jeremy Thorpe

Uncommon card · No. 89051

John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Devon from 1959 to 1979 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder his former boyfriend, Norman Scott. Thorpe was acquitted on all charges, but the case, and the scandal surrounding it, ended his political career. Thorpe was the son and grandson of Conservative MPs, but decided to align with the small and ailing Liberal Party. After studying Law at the University of Oxford, he became one of the Liberals' brightest stars in the 1950s. He entered Parliament at the age of 30, rapidly made his mark, and was elected party leader in 1967. After an uncertain start during which the party lost ground, Thorpe capitalised on the growing unpopularity of the Conservative and Labour parties to lead the Liberals through a period of electoral success. This culminated in the general election...

Read on Wikipedia