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
British Columbia Liberal Party of non-confidence. Subsequently, Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon turned down Clark's request for a snap election and instead asked NDP leader John Horgan to form a minority government with the confidence and supply of the Green Party of British Columbia. Horgan succeeded Clark as the 36th premier of British Columbia on July 18, 2017. Clark resigned as Liberal leader and Rich Coleman was selected as the interim leader. Andrew Wilkinson, a former cabinet minister, was elected the party leader on February 3, 2018 Once affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada, the British Columbia Liberal Party became independent of its federal