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
1968 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election the most powerful MPs until quitting in 1975. He eventually returned to politics and succeeded Trudeau in the 1984 Liberal leadership convention. Greene and MacEachen both served Trudeau ably as ministers before being appointed to the Senate of Canada. The 1968 leadership convention did more than choose a single leader of the Liberal party: it did a great deal to set the history of the party, and of Canada, for the next four decades. Four future prime ministers were at the convention. Trudeau remained leader of the Liberal Party until 1984, and was prime minister for all of that time