2010 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

Last updated

2010 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
  2006 9 June 2010 2014  
  Simon Hughes MP Liverpool cropped.jpg Tim Farron (2008).jpg
Candidate Simon Hughes Tim Farron
Popular vote3818
Percentage67.9%32.1%

Deputy Leader before election

Vince Cable

Elected Deputy Leader

Simon Hughes

The 2010 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on 26 May 2010, when the sitting Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Vince Cable, announced his resignation following his appointment as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. [1] Nominations closed on 2 June, and the balloting took place on 9 June. [2] The election was won by Simon Hughes.

Contents

Candidates

Hughes was, from the start, reportedly leading in the election, [5] having reportedly secured the support of at least 29 Lib Dem MPs. [6] Not all MPs publicly declared their support for either candidate; of those Farron had the support of 11 and Hughes 21. [7] Both candidates were former members of the Lib Dem Front Bench, but neither received a position in the coalition government.

Result

Only ballot: 9 June 2010 [8]
CandidateVotes%
Simon Hughes 3867.9
Tim Farron 1832.1
Turnout5698.2
Simon Hughes elected

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Hughes</span> Former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes 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 Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014, and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark from 1983 until 2015. He declined a position in the House of Lords in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vince Cable</span> British politician (born 1943)

Sir John Vincent Cable is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2010 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Lamb</span> British politician

Sir Norman Peter Lamb is a British politician and solicitor. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 2001 to 2019, and was the chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee from 2017 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pugh</span> British politician (born 1948)

John David Pugh is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Southport from 2001 to 2017. He stood down at the 2017 snap election. In November 2017, he was elected to Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council as a councillor for Duke's Ward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Kramer, Baroness Kramer</span> British Liberal Democrat politician

Susan Veronica Kramer, Baroness Kramer PC is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2005 to 2010. A member of the Liberal Democrats, she was their Treasury Spokesperson from 2015 to 2017 and 2017 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Swinson</span> British politician (born 1980)

Joanne Kate Swinson is a former British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from July to December 2019. She was the first woman and the youngest person to hold the position, as well as the shortest-serving holder of the post. Swinson was the first leader of the Liberal Democrats to be defeated in their own constituency. Swinson was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Dunbartonshire from 2005 to 2015 and 2017 to 2019. In September 2020, Swinson became Director of Partners for a New Economy (P4NE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Farron</span> British politician (born 1970)

Timothy James Farron is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005 and is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Before entering politics, he worked in higher education.

The Beveridge Group is a centre-left group within the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. It was set up in 2001 by MPs Alistair Carmichael, Paul Holmes, John Barrett and John Pugh to promote debate within the party regarding public service provision.

In the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Sir Menzies Campbell was elected to succeed Charles Kennedy as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom.

This timeline of events in the Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2006 lists the events covering the period from Charles Kennedy's initial call for a leadership election with the Liberal Democrats to the conclusion of the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election.

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. Vince 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%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Democrats (UK)</span> British political party

The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. The current leader of the party is Ed Davey. They are the third-largest party in the United Kingdom, with 72 members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons. They have 78 members of the House of Lords, four members of the Scottish Parliament, one member in the Welsh Senedd, and more than 3,000 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' rules, the Liberal Democrats grant all members attending the conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online for its policies and in the election of a new leader.

The National Union of Students (NUS) "Vote for Students" pledge is a pledge in the UK to vote against tuition fee increases that was signed by over 1,000 candidates standing in the general election in 2010, notably including a large number of Labour Party MPs, who had introduced the fees in 1998 and all 57 subsequently elected Liberal Democrat MPs.

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.

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.

The 2017 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election was announced on 14 June 2017, and Jo Swinson was elected unopposed on 20 June.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lib–Con pact</span> Working arrangement in British politics

In British politics, a Lib–Con pact is a working arrangement between the Liberal Party and the Conservatives.

The 2017 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Tim Farron as leader on 14 June 2017, after just under two years as leader of the Liberal Democrats. At the close of applications on 20 July 2017, Vince Cable was the only nominated candidate and was therefore declared the new leader of the party.

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 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held in August 2020, after Jo Swinson, the previous leader of the Liberal Democrats, lost her seat in the 2019 general election. It was initially set to be held in July 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was delayed by six weeks, having been at first postponed until May 2021.

References

  1. "Vince Cable stands down as Lib Dem deputy leader". BBC News. 26 May 2010.
  2. Patrick Wintour (28 May 2010). "Simon Hughes fights to keep leftwing identity for Liberal Democrats". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  3. "Lib Dem deputy leader contest: Tim Farron to stand". BBC News. 27 May 2010.
  4. "Simon Hughes standing for Lib Dem deputy". BBC News. 28 May 2010.
  5. "Hughes 'leading' in Lib Dem deputy race". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  6. "Lib Dem deputy leader contest: Nominations close". BBC News. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  7. "Deputy Leadership contest: how the MPs stack up". Libdemvoice.org. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  8. "Simon Hughes elected Lib Dem deputy leader". BBC News. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.