'A Very English Scandal': 30 facts about the Thorpe Affair

'A Very English Scandal': the true story of Jeremy Thorpe - Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw are lovers in ‘A Very English Scandal’. The new BBC miniseries tells the shocking story of Jeremy Thorpe, who was the subject of one of Britain's biggest political scandals.

But how accurate is the show? Read on for the full story.

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Jeremy Thorpe - Jeremy Thorpe was the first politician to go to trial for murder in the UK.

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The rundown - Thorpe led the Liberal Party from 1967 until 1976. Controversy about a former lover and a murder plot ruined his reputation beyond repair.

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Beginnings - Thorpe was born in 1929. He actually came from a line of Conservative MPs, but sided with the smaller Liberal Party instead. Eventually, he became the Liberal MP for North Devon. He became leader of the party eight years later.

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Personal secrets - It’s now known that Thorpe had past relationships with men but he kept it secret as homoesexuality was banned in the UK until 1967.

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Norman Scott - Before homosexuality became legal, Thorpe had a brief affair with a former model, Norman Scott.

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"I'll pay it" - Thorpe was married twice. First to Caroline (pictured), who died in a car crash. He then married Marion. At his first wedding, Thorpe apparently told his friend “If it’s the price I’ve got to pay to lead this old party, I’ll pay it”, as reported by RadioTimes.

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Chance encounter - In the years leading up to the affair, Scott was depressed and penniless. He crossed paths with Thorpe while meeting up with a friend.

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One thing led to another... - Thorpe offered to help Scott out with his financial situation. Eventually, they met up and one thing led to another.

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Helping hand - Since Scott was broke, Thorpe offered to pay his rent and introduce him to a lavish lifestyle.

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Rock bottom - But in the following years, Scott returned to poverty and was unlucky with work. At one point, he even attempted suicide.

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Benefit of the doubt - Scott blamed Thorpe for his situation. Apparently, the politician had lost Scott’s National Insurance card, which was needed to claim benefits.

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Political allies - Thorpe tried hard to hide his past. He even sought help from his political friend, Peter Bessell MP.

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Running away - So what happened next? As the prosecution said at Thorpe’s trial, “the higher he climbed on the political ladder, the greater was the threat to his ambition from Scott”, as reported in RadioTimes.

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Best man for the job - Prosecutors claimed that Thorpe worked with Bessell and David Holmes (pictured, right) in a conspiracy to kill Scott.

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Several pints later... - Bessell opted out. However, Holmes was won over, and started on his plot. Apparently, Holmes tracked down Andrew Newton, an airline pilot willing to become an assassin. After 16 pints, Newton agreed to the plot for £10,000, which was taken from the Liberal Party’s funds.

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Flower power - At the trial, Newton testified that he planned to kill Scott using a chisel hidden in a bouquet of flowers. But this wasn’t nearly as crazy as Newton’s previous plot.

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Man's best friend - Newton originally visited Scott under the guise that he was a bodyguard. Yet Newton, who had a fear of dogs, was surprised by Scott’s huge Great Dane, Rinka.

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Narrow escape - After Rinka jumped on Newton, he shot the dog to death. He apparently aimed at Scott, but the gun jammed, and Scott got away.

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That was close... - Newton was sent to prison for years after killing Rinka. However, the testimony about Thorpe’s murder plot was not taken seriously and was discredited.

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Pressing matters - Things seemed in the clear for Thorpe. However, as RadioTimes reports, the Private Eye and the Sunday Express investigated into the “dog in the fog” story.

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Evidence - Journalists made a big discovery. Apparently, Thorpe had his allies pay thousands to buy back incriminating letters.

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National interest - Eventually, the story began to gain serious attention. Thorpe’s letters to Scott were even published in newspapers.

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Fall from grace - Thorpe resigned from his party in 1976. He was arrested and charged two years later, along with Holmes and other alleged co-conspirators.

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Who? - The Honourable Sir Joseph Donaldson Cantley was chosen as the presiding judge. As explained by RadioTimes, the judge was “so little known outside legal circles that not a single news agency possessed a photograph of him”.

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In comes Carman - Thorpe had a good chance of winning this. Cantley liked Thorpe, and the politician had a smart lawyer, George Carman (pictured). The lawyer labelled Thorpe’s co-conspirators as liars, and even stopped Thorpe from entering the witness box.

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"A parasite" - The judge ended the trial with a famous speech full of quotable lines. He called Scott “a hysterical, warped personality… he is a crook. He is a fraud. He is a sponger. He is a whiner. He is a parasite”. The jury acquitted all four men.

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Irreparable damage - Thorpe escaped jail, but his reputation was in tatters. He lost his seat in the 1979 General Election, and never led a public life again.

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Later life - Thorpe was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the 1980s. He died in 2014, aged 85.

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Justice not served? - Today, Norman Scott lives in Dartmoor, in Devon. As Radio Times reports, he does not think justice has been served. “I think he should have gone to prison. And that also would have made my life so different, because people would have believed me”, he said.

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'A Very English Scandal' - So how accurate is ‘A Very English Scandal’? It’s based on the non-fiction book of the same name by historian John Preston. “We did kind of re-research everything,” Davies said “The book had done an awful lot of research and had been published without John Preston being sued. At the BBC you have to re-prove everything, and go through that, and have two sources of evidence for everything”, as reported by Radio Times.

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