English politician Jeremy Thorpe was BOTD in 1929. Born in London into an upper middle-class family with political connections, Thorpe attended Eton College and then Oxford University, where he energetically (and sometimes forcefully) pursued relationships with other boys. He qualified as a barrister and worked for many years as a a television journalist, significantly boosting his public profile. After failing to achieve his childhood ambition of marrying Princess Margaret, he set his sights on politics, opting for the Liberal Party in honour of family friend and former prime minister David Lloyd George. He won a seat in Parliament in 1959, and was elected Leader of the Liberals in 1967. As a politician, he opposed the death penalty, condemned the colonialist government of Rhodesia and promoted immigration and closer links with the European Union. Passing himself off as a bachelor, Thorpe had a number of indiscreet affairs with men, including the dissolute aristocrat Henry Upton, who drowned in 1957 in mysterious circumstances. In 1961, Thorpe began a relationship with 20 year-old Norman Josiffe (later known as Norman Scott), eventually moving him into a flat in London to continue their affair. When the relationship ended, Scott made repeated demands for financial help, threatening to expose their affair to the press. Determined to improve his public image, Thorpe married Caroline Allpass in 1968, with whom he had a son. After Caroline’s sudden death, he married concert pianist Marion Stein in 1973. The following year, the Liberals gained six million votes in the general election, bringing Thorpe close to the leadership. Concerned that Scott could destroy his career, Thorpe and his colleagues are thought to have arranged a hitman to have him killed. In 1975, an assassin tried unsuccessfully to shoot Scott, killing his pet dog, a Great Dane called Rinka. Details of Thorpe’s relationship with Scott went public in 1976, forcing Thorpe to resign as party leader. In 1977, Thorpe and three others were put on trial for conspiracy to murder Scott. Refusing to testify at trial, Thorpe was acquitted, in what is widely considered to be a travesty of justice. With his political career in ruins, he retired from public life, continuing to protest his innocence and deny any relationship with Scott. Thorpe and Marion remained married until her death in March 2014. He died nine months later, aged 85. In 2009, the BBC attempted to make a biopic of Thorpe’s life starring Rupert Everett, which was abandoned following legal threats from Thorpe. After his death, a series of biographies and non-fiction studies were published, revealing Thorpe’s relationship with Scott and involvement in the murder conspiracy. John Preston’s 2016 book A Very English Scandal was adapted by Russell T. Davies into a successful 2018 TV drama, starring Hugh Grant as Thorpe and Ben Whishaw as Scott.