Norman Lamb and Tim Farron will discover which of them is the new Liberal Democrat leader when the party announces the result of the contest to succeed Nick Clegg.
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Farron triumphed by a margin of 56.5% votes by Lid Dem members to 43.5%.
Mathew Hulbert, a former Liberal Democrat councillor from Barwell in Leicestershire, whose Twitter profile includes a picture of him with Mr Farron, was unequivocal.
– Bubba (@MrsMooville) July 16, 2015 Tim Farron is the man who can revive the Lib Dems. ‘We’ve reached rock bottom and I think he’s got charisma and he’s the kind of person who can bring people back to us – if anyone can.’.
The bookmakers’ favourite, Farron, has said he wants to focus on rebuilding the party from the grassroots up, on the issues of human rights, the environment, and building a “fairer and more equal society”.
“I think that Tim’s message, which is rooted in the life he has led, will resonate with people in Stroud”.
When challenged for a second time, he claimed “to understand Christianity is to understand that we are all sinners” – but did not say that homosexuality is not a sin.
“This leadership election has energised and united our party”, he said.
Mr Farron dismissed the Chancellor’s Budget promise of a £7.20-an-hour National Living Wage – rising to £9 by 2020 – saying: “Just because you call something a living wage, doesn’t mean it is one”.
And he paid tribute to predecessor Nick Clegg for the “passion and gravitas and sanity” he had shown in the wake of the party’s crushing general election defeat.
Liberal Democrat Party President Sal Brinton said: “Both Tim and Norman ran distinctively liberal, strong campaigns that spoke to party members across the UK”.
The new Lib Dem leader was an aspiring pop star in his youth and pictures of his three-piece band, known as The Voyeurs and, later, Fred the Girl, emerged this year.
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Lamb won the support of numerous party’s most senior figures, including former leaders Menzies Campbell and Paddy Ashdown and the founding member of the Social Democratic party, Shirley Williams, whereas the bulk of Farron’s support came more from the grassroots of the party.
