List of leaders of the Liberal Democrats
| Leader of the Liberal Democrats | |
|---|---|
| Member of | |
| Appointer | Liberal Democrats membership |
| Inaugural holder | David Steel and Bob Maclennan |
| Formation | 3 March 1988 |
| Website | Official website |
The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons, often colloquially referred to as the Deputy Leader. Under the federal constitution of the Liberal Democrats the leader is required to be a member of the House of Commons.
Before the election of the first federal leader of the party (the Liberal Democrats having a federal structure in their internal party organisation), the leaders of the two parties which merged to form the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Party and the SDP, served as joint interim leaders.
In the event that the leader dies, resigns or loses his or her seat in Parliament, the deputy leader (if there is one) serves as interim leader until a leadership election takes place. This has occurred twice, with Menzies Campbell serving as interim leader following the resignation of Charles Kennedy (Campbell was elected leader in the ensuing election) and Vince Cable serving as interim leader following Campbell's resignation. The current leader is Vince Cable, who was elected unopposed following the resignation of previous leader Tim Farron.
There are six living former party leaders. From oldest to youngest:
...
Wikipedia