Politics / Carmichael to lead Scottish Lib Dems over coming month
ORKNEY and Shetland MSP Alistair Carmichael will oversee the Scottish Liberal Democrats while the party picks its new leader.
Nominations for the role opened today (Tuesday) following the resignation of Willie Rennie, who had been in the job since 2011.
Nominations close on 20 August, and during this time Carmichael will act as interim Scottish leader.
He is Scottish deputy leader within the party.
As well as requiring 10 per cent support from the Scottish parliamentary party, nominees are also required to obtain the support of 30 ordinary members from more than five local parties.
Aside from Rennie the Lib Dems only have three MSPs in the Scottish Parliament – Shetland’s Beatrice Wishart, Orkney’s Liam McArthur and Alex Cole-Hamilton, who represents the Edinburgh Western constituency.
Party convenor Sheila Ritchie said: “Willie Rennie has been a fantastic leader for the past ten years. I know all of our members will join with me in thanking him for his hard work, dedication, and patience.
“We now move onto a new and exciting stage for the party, the election of a new leader.”
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