Ex-Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe dies at 85

Jeremy Thorpe, an influential British politician who helped revive the Liberal Party before his career was cut short by scandal, died today.
He was 85.
Thorpe's death was announced by his son, Rupert, and was mourned by current party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and other party stalwarts.
Clegg praised Thorpe's "leadership and resolve" in reviving the party, now called the Liberal Democrats, but the former party leader once a familiar, dapper figure in Parliament had largely stayed out of the public eye since he was cleared of serious criminal charges in 1979. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for more than 30 years.

Widely admired as a speaker and organiser, Thorpe had enjoyed a successful career that was cut short by scandal after he was accused of conspiracy and incitement to murder former male model Norman Scott.
Thorpe was leader of Britain's venerable third political party from 1967 until 1976, when he stepped down from that post following allegations by Scott that they had had a gay relationship in the early 1960s, when homosexuality was still a criminal offense in Britain.

Thorpe repeatedly denied Scott's allegations, first made in the early 1970s.
In 1976, Scott made the allegations public in a magistrate's court in the case of a man Andrew Newton accused of shooting Scott's dog.

Thorpe stepped down on May 10, 1976, saying he could no longer stand what he called "a sustained press witch hunt and campaign of denigration." He said, "No man can effectively lead a party if the greater part of his time has to be devoted to answering allegations and countering plots and intrigues.