The 2003 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election took place in February 2003, following the decision by the incumbent, Alan Beith

Alan Beith

Sir Alan James Beith is a British Liberal Democrat politician and Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed.-Early life:Alan Beith was born in 1943 in Poynton, in Cheshire...

 to stand down as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

, a political party in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The post was voted on by the party's then 53 Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

.

The election was expected to be contested by Simon Hughes

Simon Hughes

Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...

, who had come second in the 1999 leadership election

Liberal Democrats leadership election, 1999

The 1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election was called following the resignation of Paddy Ashdown as leader. There were five candidates and all members of the party were balloted using the Alternative Vote preference system...

, but in the event he declined to run, instead running to be Mayor of London

Mayor of London

The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

 in the 2004 elections

London mayoral election, 2004

The 2004 election to the post of Mayor of London took place on 10 June 2004. It was being held on the same day as other local elections and the UK part of the 2004 European Parliament elections, so Londoners had a total of five votes on three ballot papers. Polling opened at 07:00 local time, and...

. In the event the candidates were Menzies Campbell

Menzies Campbell

Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...

, the party's foreign affairs spokesperson, and Malcolm Bruce

Malcolm Bruce

Malcolm Gray Bruce, MP is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Gordon. He has been the chairman of the International Development Select Committee since 2005.-Early life:...

, spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Result

First round
Candidate		Votes	%
	Menzies Campbell Menzies Campbell Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...	31	58.49
	Malcolm Bruce Malcolm Bruce Malcolm Gray Bruce, MP is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Gordon. He has been the chairman of the International Development Select Committee since 2005.-Early life:...	22	41.51
Turnout		53	100%

See also

• Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, 2006
  Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election, 2006
  The 2006 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election began on March 2, 2006, when the sitting Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, was elected leader of the party. Campbell had been deputy leader since February 2003....