Chris Rennard has been a member of the Liberal Democrat party for more than 40 years and was awarded a peerage in 1999. Chris Rennard has written his account of becoming involved with the Liberal Democrats with his book, “Winning Here”.
Statement by Lord Rennard to Times Radio
Friday 6th February 2026
All allegations made against me were investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service in 2013 in what was acknowledged by one of the complainants to be a “thorough and professional investigation”. After interviewing all concerned and considering any evidence they decided not to send a file to the Crown Prosecution Service and took no further action.
A thorough investigation of all allegations was then undertaken by an independent lawyer Alistair Webster KC following very extensive appeals for any complaints concerning me and any evidence. His report submitted to the party in December 2013 concluded that there was insufficient evidence to hold a disciplinary hearing. The report he submitted did not include the word “credible”. His report was accepted by the relevant party body in January 2014.
A further investigation was conducted by another independent lawyer as to whether there were any grounds at all for any form of disciplinary action against me and it concluded that there were not. This conclusion was accepted by the party in August 2014 when all disciplinary action against me ended.
There was then an independent review of all these process by the businesswoman Helena Morrissey MBE who is now a Conservative Peer. She concluded in December 2014 that, “At this point, December 2014, every investigation has concluded with no further action to be taken against Lord Rennard. The process over the past nearly two years – conducted according to the prevailing rules – has run its course and although the outcome is a source of great frustration to some, I believe that the Party can only move on if that outcome is accepted. At this stage, given that the Party applied its own processes, there is no justification for it remaining ambivalent towards Lord Rennard – he should be just as welcome a participant or guest at Party events as any other”.
Lord Rennard in Parliament
Guidelines for Government Formation
Over the past 27 years, the Parliaments of Scotland and Wales have functioned well after elections in which no party has had a single Majority, but in similar circumstances at Westminster, there could be absolute chaos in terms of deciding who is invited to Buckingham Palace and when. Should we not move to the system that they have in Scotland and Wales where their Parliaments elect the First Minister? Doing so for the House of Commons is perhaps the only way for a new Prime Minister to know that they have the confidence of the House.
My Lords, we have, especially in the other place, a series of conventions that determine who commands the confidence of the House, and they include the King’s Speech and Budget votes. There is no need for any additional convention.
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent. The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office.
