Jeremy Thorpe after discovery by the "Daily Mail". Bessell gave muddled accounts of his involvement with Scott, but insisted that his former chief was innocent of any wrongdoing. On 16 March 1976 Newton's trial began at Exeter Crown Court, where Scott repeated his allegations against Thorpe despite the efforts of the prosecution's lawyers to silence him. Newton was found guilty and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but did not incriminate Thorpe. The erosion of public support for the Liberal Party continued with several poor by-election results in March, which the former leader Grimond attributed to increasing lack of confidence in Thorpe. On
1976 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election to 48 on the Liberal amendment but then the Liberals voted with the Tories to defeat the similar NDP amendment. Smith tried to save face by stating "We voted for our own amendment to register disapproval with government policy. We voted against the NDP amendment simply to avoid an election." The Liberals under Smith regained status as official opposition after the 1977 election in another minority parliament but suffered disappointment in 1981 when the Tories regained a majority. Smith resigned after his second election defeat after six years as leader. 1976 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election The Ontario Liberal Party