British 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 on Thursday. 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.
