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| Lib Dems fail to sing same tune in Chris Rennard harassment case | Lib Dems fail to sing same tune in Chris Rennard harassment case |
| (1 day later) | |
| Oh no, not Chris Rennard back in the headlines again. The life peer and former chief executive of the Liberal Democrats made his name in the party as a backroom boy: the mastermind of three elections that took the Lib Dems from 26 seats before 1997 to an 80-year high of 62 in 2005. Now he can barely cross the street without causing uproar. | Oh no, not Chris Rennard back in the headlines again. The life peer and former chief executive of the Liberal Democrats made his name in the party as a backroom boy: the mastermind of three elections that took the Lib Dems from 26 seats before 1997 to an 80-year high of 62 in 2005. Now he can barely cross the street without causing uproar. |
| The overnight Rennard news, buried by more important matters on page 15 of Wednesday’s Guardian, is that Lord Rennard is standing down from the party’s ruling executive just a week after being re-elected to this august body by fellow peers. | The overnight Rennard news, buried by more important matters on page 15 of Wednesday’s Guardian, is that Lord Rennard is standing down from the party’s ruling executive just a week after being re-elected to this august body by fellow peers. |
| Related: Lord Rennard steps down from Lib Dem executive | Related: Lord Rennard steps down from Lib Dem executive |
| Why? Because of the sexual harassment allegations that have pursued him since he stood down as Lib Dem chief executive in 2009. Many in the party do not believe he should be allowed to resume office of any kind in their ranks. | Why? Because of the sexual harassment allegations that have pursued him since he stood down as Lib Dem chief executive in 2009. Many in the party do not believe he should be allowed to resume office of any kind in their ranks. |
| The peer has apologised if he inadvertently made the “women feel uncomfortable”, but he has always denied sexually inappropriate behaviour. | The peer has apologised if he inadvertently made the “women feel uncomfortable”, but he has always denied sexually inappropriate behaviour. |
| I don’t have much trouble seeing all sides of this one. Lib Dem peers know their man is a real talent, still only 55 and desperate to get back to a frontline so depleted at the 2015 election (eight MPs left) that such talents are certainly needed. Some peers, women like Shirley Williams among them, also think the “inappropriate touching” and other allegations are less serious than has been asserted. | I don’t have much trouble seeing all sides of this one. Lib Dem peers know their man is a real talent, still only 55 and desperate to get back to a frontline so depleted at the 2015 election (eight MPs left) that such talents are certainly needed. Some peers, women like Shirley Williams among them, also think the “inappropriate touching” and other allegations are less serious than has been asserted. |
| Under Clegg, the party had faffed about and faced the usual accusations of a cover-up, some of it by newspapers with serious expertise in that department. Everyone behaved badly, not least Rennard, who clearly felt he’d done nothing wrong. I bumped into him during the past year and suspect he still does. He was pretty indignant about both substance and process. That’s part of the saga. | Under Clegg, the party had faffed about and faced the usual accusations of a cover-up, some of it by newspapers with serious expertise in that department. Everyone behaved badly, not least Rennard, who clearly felt he’d done nothing wrong. I bumped into him during the past year and suspect he still does. He was pretty indignant about both substance and process. That’s part of the saga. |
| The barrister Alistair Webster QC was tasked by the party with investigating the allegations when Channel 4 News broke the story in February 2013. | The barrister Alistair Webster QC was tasked by the party with investigating the allegations when Channel 4 News broke the story in February 2013. |
| Webster, whose evidence has never been published, took it all very conscientiously and received statements both from complainants and from supporters of Rennard, more than 100 statements in all. There was “credible” evidence that the election guru had “violated personal space and autonomy”. But he also concluded that there was insufficient evidence to stage an internal disciplinary hearing because party rules then required (they have since been amended) a level of proof needed for a criminal case. Webster’s task was to assess whether there was a greater than 50% chance that such a standard of proof could be met. | |
| The row rumbled on. Rennard was asked to apologise, which he eventually did with evident ill grace. But there was an appeal and he was suspended from the party for much of 2014. It did not stop resignations by party activists. | The row rumbled on. Rennard was asked to apologise, which he eventually did with evident ill grace. But there was an appeal and he was suspended from the party for much of 2014. It did not stop resignations by party activists. |
| With ill-will surging amid rumours that Rennard might start spilling high-minded beans if thwarted, the businesswoman Helena Morrisey – a rave write-up here – was asked by the party to review its processes and concluded there was “no justification for remaining ambivalent towards Lord Rennard” because no further action against him is envisaged. | With ill-will surging amid rumours that Rennard might start spilling high-minded beans if thwarted, the businesswoman Helena Morrisey – a rave write-up here – was asked by the party to review its processes and concluded there was “no justification for remaining ambivalent towards Lord Rennard” because no further action against him is envisaged. |
| That was last December. So Rennard rejoined the ranks in the upper house. He was eager to climb on board the party wagon. Though married – his wife is a primary school head – the party has been his family, the bright boy from a modest background in Liverpool who found his niche in pavement politics as a teenager. So when a vacancy came up on the Lib Dems’ federal executive he stood against another peer, the businessman and party bigwig, Lord Tim Razzell. | That was last December. So Rennard rejoined the ranks in the upper house. He was eager to climb on board the party wagon. Though married – his wife is a primary school head – the party has been his family, the bright boy from a modest background in Liverpool who found his niche in pavement politics as a teenager. So when a vacancy came up on the Lib Dems’ federal executive he stood against another peer, the businessman and party bigwig, Lord Tim Razzell. |
| Rennard won in a ballot of peers, so mistake number one – his own impatience – was compounded by mistake number two, the peers’ collective failure to spot a large, still unexploded bomb. They seem to have elected him in a fit of absence of mind, then panicked when unforgiving critics of whatever it was Rennard did decided they were not going to let the matter rest. Yet that is what Helena Morrisey said ought to happen now. | Rennard won in a ballot of peers, so mistake number one – his own impatience – was compounded by mistake number two, the peers’ collective failure to spot a large, still unexploded bomb. They seem to have elected him in a fit of absence of mind, then panicked when unforgiving critics of whatever it was Rennard did decided they were not going to let the matter rest. Yet that is what Helena Morrisey said ought to happen now. |
| Tim Farron, who was quite forward in asking Rennard to apologise before he became leader of the Lib Dems, has been slow to react. After weekend consultations he asked Rennard to step down – “Be patient, Chris” must have been the message. But the other half of his message, that Rennard’s critics must accept Morrissey’s advice, too, may have been lost in translation. | Tim Farron, who was quite forward in asking Rennard to apologise before he became leader of the Lib Dems, has been slow to react. After weekend consultations he asked Rennard to step down – “Be patient, Chris” must have been the message. But the other half of his message, that Rennard’s critics must accept Morrissey’s advice, too, may have been lost in translation. |
| There are times when everyone manages to put themselves in the wrong. | There are times when everyone manages to put themselves in the wrong. |
| • This article was amended on 19 November 2015. An earlier version said Alistair Webster QC had interviewed complainants. |