Liberal Party Frontbench Team, 1967–76 Liberal Party Frontbench Team, 1967–76 Members of the British Liberal Party's Frontbench Team from 1967 to 1976 (leaderships listed chronologically): Mr. Thorpe announced changes in the organisation of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, and the reallocation of duties among the 12 Liberal M Ps. Mr. Jo Grimond. who resigned as Leader of the party last month. has been invited to undertake a general oversight of foreign affairs. defence, and regionalism. His sphere will Include a study of present Common Market trends. East-West Euroman relations, the future of Nato and its relationship with the Warsaw Pact powers, and Highland development. Mr. Eric
Thorpe affair he had lied to protect his former friend. A further concern for Thorpe was the danger that newspapers would publish letters he had sent to Scott early in their friendship. In an effort to forestall this, Thorpe arranged for the publication of two of the letters in "The Sunday Times", a paper generally sympathetic towards him. In one of these letters Thorpe referred to Scott by the pet name "Bunnies". The tone of this letter convinced readers and commentators that Thorpe had not been frank about the nature of the relationship. On 10 May 1976 he resigned as Liberal leader