Vox Populi - 1968 Liberal Leadership Election

[Lumine]

March 1968 - Having led the Liberals to their recovery, Grimond stands down

The Liberal Party was both exhilarated and yet disappointed at the stunning results of the 1967 Election. Riding a wave of dissatisfaction from younger voters on the lack of "social progress" under Callaghan and the lack of support among the main parties for more liberal policies the Liberals had surged into 30% of the vote, their best performance in votes since 1910 and their best performance in seats in 1923. The Liberals were finally back with a vengeance, but the realities of the electoral system placed the Tories as the Official Opposition by more than a hundred seats. They also had to face the issue that the leadership of Jo Grimond was coming to an end.

Having saved the Liberal Party from certain death during his twelve-year tenure as leader, the fight had left Grimond exhausted. He had already attempted to resigned after 64', only to be persuaded to run in a last election. Leaving behind a party which had come to adore him and a large caucus of MP's to choose his successor, it was also decided that only the more "experienced" MP's would run for the leadership, rather than the large intake from 1967. And so, to succeed Grimond three MP's would run: Eric Lubbock, Jeremy Thorpe and Donald Wade.

The Candidates:

Eric Lubbock: Standard bearer of the left of the Liberal Party (and close ally of Grimond), Lubbock argues that the Liberal Party must become a progressive voice of social liberalism in Britain against the more conservative Tories and Labour, standing for human rights abroad and for the rights of minorities across the United Kingdom. Lubbock is also a pioneer for environmentally friendly policies, which he believes to be relevant as an issue to champion in the future.

Jeremy Thorpe: Seen as a more moderate option than Lubbock but still following the Grimond legacy is Jeremy Thorpe, who is advocating for the Liberal Party to focus on fighting injustice on different areas of policy, from economic to political injustice )particularly due to the lack of political reform). Thorpe also believes in a road championed by some of the Young Liberals that follows "community politics", arguing for the Liberal Party to stand up for local issues across constituencies to maximize their appeal and prove their commitments to a Liberal point of view.

Donald Wade: Closing the list is the more experienced Deputy Leader Donald Wade, seen as a leader to reform the party into a more effective force in parliament due to his age and record (at 64, much older than the rather young Lubbock and Thorpe). Disdainful of "community politics", Wade holds a mixture of positions from different areas of the party, supporting a multilateral position on nuclear weapons and co-ownership of industry while taking a hostile view towards socialism and the Labour Party.

[MAINEiac4434]

Lubbock unquestionably.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Thorpe for the lulz.

[Maxwell]

Thorpe for the lulz.

[NeverAgain]

Lubbock unquestionably.

[Lumine]

Liberal Leadership Election, 1968:

Lubbock promises to turn the Liberals into one of the two main parties

Sole Ballot:

Eric Lubbock: 34
Jeremy Thorpe: 31
Donald Wade: 10

After twelve long years of leading the Liberal Party Jo Grimond had become exhausted. He had brought a party to the brink of collapse back as one of the main political forces in Britain, with an historic 30% of the vote in the 1967 General Election (but only 75 MP's), bu the time had come to step down. Three candidates ran to succeed him, the newer intake of MP's refraining from entering the contest due to their lack of experience: Jeremy Thorpe, Eric Lubbock and Donald Wade. Opposed to an older and more experienced Wade, both Thorpe and Lubbock represented the much younger and new generation of the Liberal Party, determined to take it into a new direction to secure the breakthrough that could make them the Opposition, or, as some dreamt of it, the new Government.

Soon it became clear Wade was too old, if supported by an important group of MP's due to his stellar work as Liberal whip. Thorpe and Lubbock became the main candidates, Lubbock offering a firm turn towards the center-left in support of Grimond's legacy and Thrope promoting a more decentralized leadership, more focused on local issues than ideology. In the end it was Lubbock who made more progress among the new MPs, besting Thorpe in the first and ultimately final round. Despite many expecting that both men would face each other on a second round, it became clear most of the Wade supporters would cross to Lubbock, leading Thorpe to make the pragmatic choice and withdraw in return for the Deputy Leadership.

A new Liberal team was in place.