Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron Resigns
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Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron announced his shock resignation in a statement last night.
Farron, who increased the number of seats belonging to the Liberal Democrats in this election from eight to 12, had come under fire during the election campaign for his views surrounding homosexuality and later his views on gay sex.
In the statement, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale said that he was resigning because he has “found [himself] torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader”.
“To be a political leader – especially of a progressive, liberal party in 2017 – and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the Bible’s teaching, has felt impossible,” said Mr Farron.
During the election campaign, the former Liberal Democrat leader was repeatedly pressed to answer whether he thought homosexuality was a sin, which he wouldn’t answer and then in subsequent interviews, said no. He was asked on ITV’s Peston on Sunday whether he thought gay sex was a sin and would not clearly define his point of view, resulting in much speculation and attention on his faith and how it affects his politics.
Mr Farron’s comments have, as one would naturally expect, caused some confusion. It seems to be that Christianity for Tim Farron is not compatible with running a liberal party, one that celebrates and champions the cause of equality. It has been pointed out that to anyone with an elementary study of Jesus Christ, the reasoning behind the resignation seems particularly interesting, given that Christ taught compassion and liberated the marginalised.
Former Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable is one of the two hot favourites to replace Farron in the subsequent leadership contest. The second is Norman Lamb who lost a leadership election to him two years ago following the resignation of Nick Clegg who lost his Sheffield Hallam seat to Labour in the 2017 general election.