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The 2011 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was triggered by the resignation of party leader Tavish Scott on 7 May 2011, due to the very poor showing of the party at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, in which the Liberal Democrats only returned 5 MSPs and lost 12. [1]
Nominations for party leader closed on 17 May 2011, and with Willie Rennie the only declared candidate, he was elected to the position unopposed. [2]
There were only four other Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs currently sitting in the Scottish Parliament: Jim Hume, Liam McArthur and Alison McInnes and Tavish Scott, the former party leader. Although Liam McArthur was mentioned as a possible contender, most media believed that it was unlikely that another candidate would stand due to the small size of the party making a leadership contest and ballot undesirable, as turned out to be the case. [4]
Tavish Hamilton Scott is a former Scottish politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Shetland from 1999 to 2019, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011. He stepped down as Leader after the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, in which the Liberal Democrats were reduced to five seats, down from 16 in the previous parliament.
Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Aberdeen South from 1999 to 2011, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008.
Michael John Rumbles is a former Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland, from 2016 to 2021. He previously represented West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine before being defeated at the 2011 election in the successor constituency of Aberdeenshire West).
The Dunfermline and West Fife by-election was held on 9 February 2006, following the death of the sitting Labour MP Rachel Squire, on 6 January. The by-election was the first seat to change hands in the 2005 Parliament, when Willie Rennie won the seat for the Liberal Democrats, gaining it from Labour by 1,800 votes. The BBC reported a swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats of 16.24%.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 4 of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons.
William Cowan Rennie, commonly known as Willie Rennie, is a Scottish politician who served as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2011 to 2021. He has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Fife since 2016, and previously as a list MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife.
Hugh O'Donnell is a former Scottish politician.
Liam Scott McArthur is a Scottish politician serving as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, alongside Annabelle Ewing, since May 2021. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Orkney since 2007.
The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.
Alison McClure McInnes is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. She was the Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Justice in the Scottish Parliament. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region 2007–2016, when she lost her seat at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Whilst in Parliament, McInnes was a member of the Justice Committee and a substitute member of Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee of the Scottish Parliament.
The 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as leader on 15 October 2007, after 19 months as leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. Vincent Cable, the deputy leader of the parliamentary party, was acting leader until the conclusion of the leadership election. The result was announced on 18 December 2007 with Nick Clegg winning by a narrow margin of 1.2%.
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 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. The last leadership election was held in 2005 after the resignation of Jim Wallace, when Stephen defeated Mike Rumbles.
Wendy Anne Chamberlain is a Scottish politician serving as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021. She was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife at the 2019 General Election.
The 2015 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held on 16 July 2015 following the resignation of Nick Clegg as leader on 8 May 2015, after almost eight years as leader of the Liberal Democrats, following the party's poor performance at the 2015 general election.
Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Western constituency since 2016.
The 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the announcement of the resignation of Vince Cable as leader on 24 May 2019, after just under two years as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom. The two candidates to succeed Cable were Ed Davey and Jo Swinson.
The 2019 Shetland by-election was held on 29 August 2019 to elect a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the constituency of Shetland. It was held following the resignation of Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott upon taking a new role at Scottish Rugby. The Liberal Democrats held the seat, with Beatrice Wishart being elected for the party.
Beatrice Wishart is a Scottish Liberal Democrats politician who has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Shetland since 2019. Wishart currently serves as education spokesperson for her party, and has a seat on the Scottish Parliament committees for Education and Skills, for Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs, and for COVID-19. She was elected at the 2019 Shetland by-election, after the sitting Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott stepped down.
The 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was triggered on 12 July 2021 after incumbent leader Willie Rennie announced his intention to step down as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
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