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Tim Farron could easily have slipped out the back door quietly. “I have helped the Liberal Democrats recover from the low point of 2015 but now it is time for a fresh face to take the party forward.” He could have slipped out the back door humbly.

“I had hoped for a better result in the General Election and it is clear to me now that the party needs a new vision to take it forward.” Or he could have stayed inside and pursued the Remain cause this parliament as vigorously as he did in the campaign.

He didn’t. Instead, he chose to resign by returning to the most uncomfortable moments of the campaign, when he was repeatedly asked about how his faith mapped on to his attitudes to gay sex. He said that, in spite of his voting record and his political liberalism, his private views distracted media attention to an intolerable degree. “To be a political leader – especially of a…liberal party… and…

Nick Spencer | Read the full article at The Telegraph

Image available from The Telegraph via Wikicommons