View source for 2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name      = 2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
| country            =
| type               = presidential
| ongoing            = no
| previous_election  =
| previous_year      =
| next_election      = 2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election
| next_year          = 2006
| election_date      = February 2003
| image1             = Sir Ming Campbell MP 2008 cropped.jpg
| image1_size        = 160x160px
| candidate1         = '''[[Menzies Campbell]]'''
| colour1            = <!-- FAA61A -->
| popular_vote1      = '''31'''
| percentage1        = '''58.5%'''
| image2             = Malcolm Bruce, September 2009 cropped.jpg
| image2_size        = 160x160px
| candidate2         = [[Malcolm Bruce]]
| colour2            = <!-- FAA61A -->
| popular_vote2      = 22
| percentage2        = 41.5%
| title              = Deputy Leader
| before_election    = [[Alan Beith]]
| after_election     = [[Menzies Campbell]]
}}
The '''2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election''' took place in February 2003, following the decision by the incumbent, [[Alan Beith]] to stand down as Deputy Leader of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], a political party in the [[United Kingdom]]. The post was voted on by the party's then 53 [[Member of Parliament|Members of Parliament]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]].

The election was expected to be contested by [[Simon Hughes]], who had come second in the [[1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election|1999 leadership election]], but in the event he declined to run, instead running to be [[Mayor of London]] in the [[2004 London mayoral election|2004 elections]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2003-02-05|title=Campbell to run for Lib Dem deputy leader|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/feb/05/liberaldemocrats.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910174629/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/feb/05/liberaldemocrats.uk |archive-date=10 September 2014 |access-date=2021-02-11|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> In the event the candidates were [[Menzies Campbell]], the party's foreign affairs spokesperson, and [[Malcolm Bruce]], spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2003-02-12|title=Lib Dems elect deputy leader|language=en-GB|work=BBC News Online|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2755473.stm|access-date=2021-02-11}}</ref>

==Result==
{| class=wikitable style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! colspan="5"|Only ballot: February 2003
|-
! colspan="2" style="width: 170px"|Candidate
! style="width: 50px"|Votes
! style="width: 40px"|%
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
| style="width: 170px" | '''[[Menzies Campbell]]'''
| align="right" | '''31'''
| align="right" | '''58.49'''
|-
! style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
| style="width: 170px" | [[Malcolm Bruce]]
| align="right" | 22
| align="right" | 41.51
|-
! colspan="2" style="text-align:right"| Turnout
| align="right"            | 53
| align="right"            | 100
|-
| colspan="4"   | Menzies Campbell elected
|}

== References ==
<references />

==See also==
* [[2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election]]

{{Liberal Democrats (UK)}}
{{2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberal Democrats Deputy Leadership Election, 2003}}
[[Category:2003 elections in the United Kingdom|Liberal Democrat deputy leadership election]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) leadership elections|Deputy Leadership election 2003]]
[[Category:2003 political party leadership elections|Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election]]


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