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
1996 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election a transformation of thinking in Ontario politics and that the Liberals needed a right-leaning leader to compete against Harris rather than someone who would compete against NDP for a diminishing number of left-leaning voters. 1996 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election The Ontario Liberal Party leadership election, 1996, held on December 1, 1996 elected Dalton McGuinty as the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, replacing Lyn McLeod, who announced her resignation on August, 1996. McGuinty lost the 1999 election but won in 2003 and served as Premier for ten years until 2013. Liberal party policy allowed for 2,400 delegates to