Jeremy Thorpe The former leader of Britain's Liberal party, Jeremy Thorpe, whose political career ended after a gay sex scandal, has died after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. Thorpe, 85, was a hugely popular politician who steered the third-ranked Liberal party to it's highest post-World War Two election results and he was sometimes mooted as a possible Prime Minister. But he resigned as Liberal leader after a male acquaintance claimed to have had a love affair with him in the 1960s when homosexual acts were still illegal in Britain. The scandal took a darker turn when Thorpe was alleged to have conspired to have the man murdered. Thorpe lost his seat during an election held during the trial which eventually saw him acquitted on all charges in 1979. Thorpe and his first wife, who died in a car crash in 1970, had a son, who has announced his father's death. Thorpe's second wife died in March this year. Despite rumours circulating regarding his sexual orientation even before the court case, Thorpe never publicly discussed his sexuality.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 5th December 2014 - 10:25am