Jeremy Thorpe

John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British Liberal politician.

Thorpe was born in South Kensington, London, the son of former Conservative Member of Parliament John Henry Thorpe. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford. He was the MP for North Devon from 1959 until 1979. He was leader of his party from 1967 until 1976.The downfall

In 1979 at the Central Criminal Court in London, Thorpe was acquitted of conspiracy to murder model Norman Scott.

 The Scott affair 
In 1961, Norman Scott (b. 12 February 1940),Freeman, Simon and Penrose, Barrie 1996. Rinkagate: the rise and fall of Jeremy Thorpe. London: Bloomsbury. a former model, met Thorpe while working as a stable lad. He claimed that he and Thorpe had a sexual relationship between 1961 and 1963, when homosexual acts were illegal in Britain.

Enquiries led to Thorpe and three others being charged with conspiracy to murder Scott. During the investigation, an antique firearms collector, Dennis Meighan, confessed he had been hired by a representative of a person called "a Mr Big in the Liberal Party" to kill Scott for £13,500. Meighan later claimed that his 1975 oral confession was significantly shortened when it was offered to him for signing: "I read the statement, which did me no end of favours, but it did Jeremy Thorpe no end of favours as well, because it left him completely out of it..." 

The judge's summing-up was widely criticised for its bias,Carman, Dominic 2002. No ordinary man: a life of George Carman. London: Hodder & Stoughton. and it made headlines when he described Scott as "a crook, an accomplished liar ... a fraud".   The four defendants were all acquitted on 22 June 1979. Dennis Meighan was never called to give evidence and remained silent until 2014, when he acknowledged his involvement and commented: "It was a cover-up, no question, but it suited me fine".

The Scott Affair ruined Thorpe, who resigned as leader of the Liberal Party, and was defeated at the next general election in 1979.

 Personal life 
Thorpe was married to Caroline Allpass from 1968 until she was killed in a car crash in 1970. The couple's son was born in 1969. Thorpe was married to pianist Marion Stein (1926-2014) from 1973 until her death.Marion's obituary Thorpe was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He died from the disease in London on 4 December 2014, aged 85.

 References 

Category:1929 births
Category:2014 deaths
Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford
Category:Members of the British House of Commons for English constituencies
Category:Leaders of the Liberal Party (UK)
Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs
Category:People acquitted of murder
Category:People educated at Eton College
Category:Politicians from London
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Category:UK MPs 1959–1964
Category:UK MPs 1964–1966
Category:UK MPs 1966–1970
Category:UK MPs 1970–1974
Category:UK MPs 1974
Category:UK MPs 1974–1979