2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

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2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
←  2010 28 January 2014 2017  →
  Official portrait of Lord Bruce of Bennachie crop 3.jpg Lorely Burt MP at Harrogate.jpg Gordon Birtwistle pre-MP at Birmingham 2010.jpg
Candidate Malcolm Bruce Lorely Burt Gordon Birtwistle
First round26 (48.2%)25 (46.3%)3 (5.6%)
Second round28 (52.8%)25 (47.2%)Eliminated
Deputy Leader before election

Simon Hughes

Elected Deputy Leader

Malcolm Bruce

The 2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on 18 December 2013, when the incumbent Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Simon Hughes, was appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, and opted to resign his party position to focus on his new post. [1]

Contents

The post was elected by and from the party's 55 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, who voted on 28 January 2014. (57 Liberal Democrat MPs had been elected at the previous general election, but at the time of the vote, both David Ward and Mike Hancock had had the whip withdrawn.) Lorely Burt was seen as the front-runner, [2] yet veteran MP Sir Malcolm Bruce, who had already announced that he would be standing down at the May 2015 general election, was elected as Deputy Leader on the second round of voting. [3]

Candidates

Run-up to the election

The election coincided with the conclusion of Alistair Webster QC's report on the allegations of sexual harassment surrounding the party's former Chief Executive Lord Rennard, and in the weeks leading up to it, the party received extensive coverage surrounding sexual harassment claims against senior party figures including Lord Rennard, MP Mike Hancock, [4] [5] and AM William Powell. [6]

Accordingly, numerous media commentators noted that it appeared highly likely the party would seek to offset criticism of its treatment of women by electing the frontrunner Burt as the party's first woman Deputy Leader, and after receiving 24 nominations, she was described as "the firm favourite". [7] [8] [9] Consequently, some expressed surprise at Burt's defeat by Bruce, with the Daily Express branding the result "a blunder of Olympian proportions" which left the party open to accusations of being "pale, male and stale". [10]

Result

First round
CandidateVotes%
Sir Malcolm Bruce 2648.1
Lorely Burt 2546.3
Gordon Birtwistle 35.6
Not voting1—
Turnout5498.2
Second ballot required

Gordon Birtwistle was eliminated after the first round, and his second preferences were redistributed.

Second round
CandidateChangeVotes%
Sir Malcolm Bruce +22852.8
Lorely Burt +02547.2
Not voting+12—
Turnout5396.4
Sir Malcolm Bruce elected

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "++ Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes replaces Lord McNally as Justice Minister".
  2. ↑ "+++ Lorely Burt to stand for Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader".
  3. ↑ "Bruce elected Lib Dem deputy leader". 17 March 2018 – via BBC.
  4. ↑ Swinford, Steven (17 March 2018). "New Lib Dem scandal as Mike Hancock MP is suspended" – via The Telegraph.
  5. ↑ "Lib Dems suspend MP Mike Hancock over fresh allegations of sexual". 22 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "AM warned on inappropriate behaviour". 17 March 2018 – via BBC.
  7. ↑ Walker, Jonathan (7 January 2014). "Solihull MP Lorely Burt likely to be next Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader".
  8. ↑ "The Lib Dems should elect a female deputy leader to address their woman problem". www.newstatesman.com.
  9. ↑ "The runners and riders for deputy leader of the Lib Dems - Coffee House". 20 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Giannangeli, Marco (2 February 2014). "Lorely Burt was the right woman for Lib Dem deputy leadership".
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