Jeremy Thorpe and Peter Bessell 1964-1967

From the collection of

The Box
Established in 1992, the South West Film & Television Archive collection spans from 1893 to the present day containing more than 250,000 items. Formed from a variety of depositors, including broadcast news and programmes material from the Westward and TSW archive. In 2018 the archive collection transferred to The Box in Plymouth.

Jeremy Thorpe and Peter Bessell 1964-1967


Jeremy Thorpe is elected to the House of Commons as member for North Devon in 1959 and serves as Leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. Here we see Thorpe campaigning in 1964 and fellow member of the Liberal Party Peter Bessell who becomes MP for Bodmin. Both are to become embroiled in a scandal in the 1970s when Norman Scott accuses Jeremy Thorpe of being his lover in the early 1960s. Bessell stands down at the 1970 election and Thorpe goes on to stand trial in 1979.


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