The 2008 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was an election to choose a new leader of the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 in Scotland

Scottish Liberal Democrats

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...

, triggered following the resignation of Nicol Stephen

Nicol Stephen

Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen of Lower Deeside in the City of Aberdeen is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen South, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008...

 for personal reasons. Deputy leader Michael Moore

Michael Moore (UK politician)

Michael Kevin Moore is a British Liberal Democrat politician, currently the Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK coalition government, and the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk....

 (MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk

Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (UK Parliament constituency)

Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the south of Scotland within the Scottish Borders council area...

) 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

Jim Wallace

The Rt. Hon. James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, PC, QC , is a British politician, currently a life peer in the House of Lords and the Advocate General for Scotland...

, when Stephen defeated Mike Rumbles.

Successfully nominated candidates

The following MSPs

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...

 gained the required one nomination from a fellow MSP, and were therefore candidates for the leadership:

• Mike Rumbles
  Mike Rumbles
  Mike Rumbles is a former Scottish Liberal Democrat politician, and was MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine until defeated at the 2011 election in the successor constituency of Aberdeenshire West.-Background:...
  
   - MSP
  Member of the Scottish Parliament
  Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
  
   for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
  West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Scottish Parliament constituency)
  West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...
  
  
• Tavish Scott
  Tavish Scott
  Tavish Hamilton Scott MSP is a Scottish politician and MSP for Shetland. He was Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011...
  
   - MSP for Shetland
  Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency)
  Shetland is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...
  
   and former transport minister
• Ross Finnie
  Ross Finnie
  Ross Finnie is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician and former Member of the Scottish Parliament. He is a former Minister for the Environment and Rural Development in the Scottish Executive, and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the West of Scotland region...
  
   MSP for West of Scotland
  West of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
  West of Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
  
   regional list and former environment minister

Suggested candidates

• Jeremy Purvis
  Jeremy Purvis
  Jeremy Purvis is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician, and was MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale from 2003 to 2011.-Background:...
  
   - MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
  Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Scottish Parliament constituency)
  Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
  
  , had also been considered to be a possible contender, but he declined to run after Scott and Finnie announced their candidacies.

Result

The result of the leadership election was announced on 26 August 2008; turnout was 61%.

Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2008
Candidate		Votes	%
	Tavish Scott	1,450	59.0%
	Ross Finnie	568	21.3%
	Mike Rumbles	439	17.9%
Turnout		2,457	61.0%
Tavish Scott elected leader

Source: BBC News