David Steel MP, he was responsible for introducing, as a Private Member's Bill, the Abortion Act 1967, and has argued for greater liberalisation of this legislation in recent years (see Abortion in the United Kingdom). He also became the Liberal Party's spokesman on employment, and in 1970 its Chief Whip. In 1976, after the downfall of Jeremy Thorpe, and a short period in which Jo Grimond acted as caretaker leader, he won the Liberal leadership by a wide margin over John Pardoe. At only 38 years old, he was one of the youngest party leaders in British history. In March 1977, he
Jeremy Thorpe by Terrance Dicks, both Liberal supporters, has an unseen, offscreen British Prime Minister named "Jeremy", which was intended by the production team as a reference to Thorpe. In 2009, the BBC attempted to film a TV biopic of Thorpe's life, slated to star Rupert Everett in the title role, but this was subsequently abandoned after legal threats from Thorpe. "A Very English Scandal", a true crime non-fiction novel covering the Thorpe/Scott affair, by John Preston, was published on 5 May 2016 by Viking Press. The book was described as "a political thriller, with urgent dialogue, well-staged scenes, escalating tension and