Thorpe affair insurance card prevented him from claiming benefits. By this time, Thorpe had succeeded Jo Grimond as leader of the Liberal Party. To resolve Scott's immediate problems, and to prevent a resumption of his tirades against the new party leader, Bessell began paying him a "retainer" of between £5 and £10 a week, ostensibly in lieu of lost national insurance benefits. Bessell also arranged Scott's new passport, but by this time Scott had abandoned his American plans and wished to establish a career as a model. He asked Bessell for £200 to set him up; Bessell refused, but in May 1968
Newfoundland Reform Liberal Party the established Liberal Party from returning to power. Smallwood spent the next two years unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a merger of the breakaway party with his old party, always with the stipulation that he would be leader of the merged party. Finally, in 1977, Smallwood resigned his seat in the House of Assembly and left politics for good. The Newfoundland Reform Liberal Party disbanded shortly thereafter. Newfoundland Reform Liberal Party The Newfoundland Reform Liberal Party was a leader-centred political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada from 1975 to 1979. It backed the return to power of Joey Smallwood after the