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.BBC NEWS | Lib Dems set out leader timetable The last leadership election was held in 2005 after the resignation of Jim Wallace, when Stephen defeated Mike Rumbles.
Candidates
Successfully nominated candidates The following MSPs gained the required one nomination from a fellow MSP, and were therefore candidates for the leadership:
Mike Rumbles - MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Tavish Scott - MSP for Shetland and former transport minister Ross Finnie MSP for West of Scotland regional list and former environment ministerBBC NEWS | Ex-ministers join Lib Dems race
Suggested candidates Jeremy Purvis - MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, had also been considered to be a possible contender, but he declined to run after Scott and Finnie announced their candidacies.BBC News | Purvis out of Lib Dem leader race
Result The result of the leadership election was announced on 26 August 2008; turnout was 61%.
+ First round Candidate Votes Votes % Tavish Scott 1,450 59.0% Ross Finnie 568 21.3% Mike Rumbles 439 17.9%Turnout 2,457 61.0% Tavish Scott elected leaderSource: BBC News
References