The 2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on 18 December 2013, when the incumbent Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats,

Simon Hughes Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes (born 17 May 1951) is a British former politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, and a strategic adviser to Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer of trains. Hughes was deputy leader of the Lib ...

, was appointed

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

at the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, and opted to resign his party position to focus on his new post. The post was elected by and from the party's 55 Members of Parliament in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, 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at the previous general election, but at the time of the vote, both David Ward and Mike Hancock had had the whip withdrawn.)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 Lorely Jane Burt, Baroness Burt of Solihull (born 10 September 1954), is a British politician, who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Solihull from 2005 to 2015. She received a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours. She i ...

was seen as the front-runner, yet veteran MP Sir

Malcolm Bruce Malcolm Gray Bruce, Baron Bruce of Bennachie, (born 17 November 1944) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Gordon from 1983 to 2015 and was the chairman of the International Development Select Commit ...

, 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.

Candidates

Gordon Birtwistle Gordon Birtwistle (born 6 September 1943) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and former MP. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Burnley, England, from May 2010 to May 2015. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary ...

, MP for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

since 2010. *Sir

, MP for

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heuck ...

since 1983, who had already announced that he would be standing down from the House of Commons at the May 2015 general election, which ensured that in the event of his election, another election would be prompted by his retirement sixteen months later. *

, MP for

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

since 2005, and Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a British former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency ...

, was widely seen as the front-runner candidate.

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 Christopher John Rennard, Baron Rennard, (born 8 July 1960) is a British life peer in the House of Lords, appointed to the Liberal Democrats' benches in 1999. He was Director of Campaigns & Elections for the Liberal Democrats from 1989 to 20 ...

, 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, and AM

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...

. 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". Consequently, some expressed surprise at Burt's defeat by Bruce, with the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' branding the result "a blunder of Olympian proportions" which left the party open to accusations of being "pale, male and stale".

Result

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

References

{{2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election Liberal Democrat deputy leadership election Deputy Leadership election 2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

Candidates

Run-up to the election

Result

See also

References