1976 Coventry North West by-election in this by-election, a development that former leader Jo Grimond blamed in part on scandals surrounding incumbent Jeremy Thorpe's homosexuality. Grimond suggested that the result and the allegations meant that Thorpe "must think of stepping down". Thorpe stood down as Liberal leader two months later. 1976 Coventry North West by-election The Coventry North West by-election, in Coventry on 4 March 1976, was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Edelman. A safe Labour seat, it was won by Geoffrey Robinson, who retained the seat in 1979. The by-election represented the first outing for the National Party;
Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs since 2018 and Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Surrey since 2005. Hunt identifies as a one-nation conservative, and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies. He has been characterised as a "metropolitan liberal" by the "Financial Times". Hunt was born in Kennington and studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association. He was first elected to the