2008 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election

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2008 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election
Flag of Scotland.svg
  2005 8 February 2008 (2008-26-08) 2011  
  Tavish Scott.jpg Ross Finnie.jpg Mike Rumbles.jpg
Candidate Tavish Scott Ross Finnie Mike Rumbles
Popular vote1,450568439
Percentage59.0%21.3%17.9%

Leader before election

Michael Moore (acting)
Nicol Stephen

Elected Leader

Tavish Scott

The 2008 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was an election to choose a new leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland, triggered following the resignation of Nicol Stephen for personal reasons. Deputy leader Michael Moore (MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) took over as interim party leader, and the timetable for the election was agreed on 5 July 2008: Nominations closed on 24 July 2008, the return of the ballot papers was set for 26 August 2008 and the declaration of results occurred on the same date. [1] The last leadership election was held in 2005 after the resignation of Jim Wallace, when Stephen defeated Mike Rumbles.

Contents

Candidates

Successfully nominated candidates

The following MSPs gained the required one nomination from a fellow MSP, and were therefore candidates for the leadership:

Suggested candidates

Result

The result of the leadership election was announced on 26 August 2008; turnout was 61%.

First round
CandidateVotes
Votes %
Tavish Scott Green check.svg1,450
59.0%
Ross Finnie 568
21.3%
Mike Rumbles 439
17.9%
Turnout2,45761.0%
Tavish Scott elected leader
Source: BBC News

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