After a career in the Royal Marines, the Special Boat Squadron, intelligence and diplomacy, Ashdown was selected as Liberal candidate in Yeovil in 1976 and won the seat in 1983. A supporter of the Lib-Lab Pact and the Alliance with the SDP, Ashdown was elected the first leader of the merged Social and Liberal Democrats in…

After establishing a lucrative legal career, he was elected Liberal MP for East Fife in 1886. Appointed Home Secretary at 39, he was one of the few successes of the Liberal governments of 1892-5. When the Liberals returned to power, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Prime Minister and leading one…