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The 2011 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was triggered by the resignation of party leader
Tavish Scott Tavish Hamilton Scott (born 6 May 1966) is a former Scottish politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Shetland from 1999 to 2019, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011. He stepped down as Lead ...
on 7 May 2011, due to the very poor showing of the party at the
2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional M ...
, in which the Liberal Democrats only returned 5 MSPs and lost 12. Nominations for party leader closed on 17 May 2011, and with
Willie Rennie William Cowan Rennie (born 27 September 1967), commonly known as Willie Rennie, is a Scottish politician who served as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2011 to 2021. He has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MS ...
the only declared candidate, he was elected to the position unopposed.


Declared candidates

*
Willie Rennie William Cowan Rennie (born 27 September 1967), commonly known as Willie Rennie, is a Scottish politician who served as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2011 to 2021. He has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MS ...
– MSP for the Mid Scotland & Fife Region, former MP for Dunfermline & West Fife (2006–10)


Suggested candidates

There were only four other
Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 o ...
MSPs currently sitting in the Scottish Parliament: Jim Hume, Liam McArthur and Alison McInnes and Tavish Scott, the former party leader. Although Liam McArthur was mentioned as a possible contender, most media believed that it was unlikely that another candidate would stand due to the small size of the party making a leadership contest and ballot undesirable, as turned out to be the case.


References


See also

* 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election * 2011 Scottish Labour leadership election 2011 in Scotland 2010s elections in Scotland 2011 elections in the United Kingdom 2011 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election {{Scotland-election-stub