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 Purvis Jeremy Purvis Jeremy Purvis, Baron Purvis of Tweed (born 15 January 1974) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician, and was MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale from 2003 to 2011. It was announced that he would be elevated to the House of Lords in August 2013 He is the leader of the Devo Plus cross-party group. He was born in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, where he later attended school. He studied Politics and Modern History at university in London, graduating in 1996. While at university he worked for the ELDR (Liberal) Group in the European Parliament and Liberal International. On graduating, Purvis