2008 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election


The 2008 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was an election to choose a new leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland, triggered following the resignation of Nicol Stephen for personal reasons. Deputy leader Michael Moore took over as interim party leader, and the timetable for the election was agreed on 5 July 2008: Nominations closed on 24 July 2008, the return of the ballot papers was set for 26 August 2008 and the declaration of results occurred on the same date. The last leadership election was held in 2005 after the resignation of Jim Wallace, when Stephen defeated Mike Rumbles.

Candidates

Successfully nominated candidates

The following MSPs gained the required one nomination from a fellow MSP, and were therefore candidates for the leadership:
The result of the leadership election was announced on 26 August 2008; turnout was 61%.