Editing Jeremy Thorpe (section)

{{Short description|British politician (1929–2014)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
 | honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
 | name             = Jeremy Thorpe
 | birthname        = John Jeremy Thorpe
 | image            = 1965 Jeremy Thorpe.jpg
 | image_size       =
 | caption          = Thorpe in 1965
 | birth_date       = 29 April 1929
 | birth_place      = London, England
 | death_date       = {{death date and age|2014|12|4|1929|4|29|df=y}}
 | death_place      = London, England
 | office           = [[Leader of the Liberal Party (UK)|Leader of the Liberal Party]]
 | term_start       = 18 January 1967
 | term_end         = 10 May 1976
 | president        = [[Donald Wade, Baron Wade|The Lord Wade]]<br />[[Desmond Banks]]<br />[[Tim Beaumont|The Lord Beaumont of Whitley]]<br />[[Inga-Stina Robson]]<br />[[Stephen Terrell]]<br />[[Trevor Jones (British politician)|Trevor Jones]]<br />[[Rhys Lloyd, Baron Lloyd of Kilgerran|The Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran]]<br />[[Arthur Holt (politician)|Arthur Holt]]<br />[[Margaret Wingfield]]<br />[[Basil Goldstone]]
 | predecessor      = [[Jo Grimond]]
 | successor        = [[David Steel]]{{#tag:ref|In the interim period between Thorpe's resignation and Steel's election, Jo Grimond briefly served as stand-in leader.{{sfn|Cook|1998|p=162}} |group="n"|name="interim"}}
 | office2          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[North Devon (UK Parliament constituency)|North Devon]]
 | term_start2      = 8 October 1959
 | term_end2        = 7 April 1979
 | predecessor2     = [[James Lindsay (North Devon MP)|James Lindsay]]
 | successor2       = [[Antony Speller]]
 | spouse           = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Caroline Allpass|1968|1970|end=died}}|{{marriage|[[Marion Stein]]|14 March 1973|6 March 2014|end=died}}}}
 | parents          = {{unbulleted list|[[John Henry Thorpe]]|Ursula Norton-Griffiths}}
 | relatives        = [[John Norton-Griffiths]] (maternal grandfather)
 | children         = 1
 | alma_mater       = [[Trinity College, Oxford]]
 | party            = {{plainlist|
* [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] (until 1988)
* [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] (from 1988)}}
}}

'''John Jeremy Thorpe''' (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[North Devon (UK Parliament constituency)|North Devon]] from 1959 to 1979 and as leader of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the [[Old Bailey]] on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder his ex-boyfriend [[Norman Josiffe|Norman Scott]], a former model. Thorpe was acquitted on all charges, but the case, and [[Thorpe affair|the furore surrounding it]], ended his political career.

Thorpe was the son and grandson of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MPs, but decided to align with the small and ailing Liberal Party. After studying [[Bachelor of Laws|Law]] at [[Oxford University]] he became one of the Liberals' brightest stars in the 1950s. He entered Parliament at the age of 30, rapidly made his mark, and was elected party [[Leader of the Liberal Party (UK)|leader]] in 1967. After an uncertain start during which the party lost ground, Thorpe capitalised on the growing unpopularity of the Conservative and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] parties to lead the Liberals through a period of electoral success. This culminated in the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|general election of February 1974]], when the party won 6 million votes out of some 31 million cast. Under the [[first-past-the-post]] electoral system this gave them only 14 seats, but in a [[hung parliament]], no party having an overall majority, Thorpe was in a strong position. He was offered a cabinet post by the Conservative prime minister, [[Edward Heath]], if he would bring the Liberals into a coalition. His price for such a deal, reform of the electoral system, was rejected by Heath, who resigned in favour of [[Labour government, 1974–1979|a minority Labour government]].

The February 1974 election was the high-water mark of Thorpe's career. Thereafter his and his party's fortunes declined, particularly from late 1975 when rumours of his involvement in a plot to murder Norman Scott began to multiply. Thorpe resigned the leadership in May 1976 when his position became untenable. When the matter came to court three years later, Thorpe chose not to give evidence to avoid being cross-examined by counsel for the prosecution. This left many questions unanswered; despite his acquittal, Thorpe was discredited and did not return to public life. From the mid-1980s he was disabled by [[Parkinson's disease]]. During his long retirement he gradually recovered the affections of his party, and by the time of his death was honoured by a later generation of leaders, who drew attention to his record as an internationalist, a supporter of human rights and an opponent of [[apartheid]] and all forms of racism.