1976 Liberal Party (UK) leadership election the only time it was ever used to elect a Liberal leader. The election was won by David Steel, who served as leader of the Liberal Party until merger with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1988, forming the Liberal Democrats. David Steel later served as interim leader of the Liberal Democrats (jointly with Bob Maclennan of the SDP) for the duration of the 1988 leadership election which eventually elected Paddy Ashdown as the new party's first permanent leader. 1976 Liberal Party (UK) leadership election The 1976 Liberal Party (UK) leadership election was called following the resignation of Jeremy Thorpe
Liberal Party (Hong Kong) meeting on 29 October, making him the first person in history to have received this sanction. Tien stepped down from his position as the leader of the Liberal Party after the removal. Tien and Selina Chow joined Miriam Lau to become the Honorary Chairmen in the following leadership election on 1 December while Vincent Fang and Felix Chung became the new Leader and Chairman respectively and Eastern District Councillor Peter Shiu became the party's Vice-Chairman. Although not holding any executive position in the party, Tien has remained the spokesman and "de facto" leader of the Liberal Party. In the 2016