Liberal Democrats leadership victor to be announced

Voting has closed in the battle for the Liberal Democrat leadership, with the winner to be ­announced today.

Lamb and Farron are vying for the party's top post. Picture: PA

MPs Norman Lamb and Tim Farron are vying to succeed Nick Clegg in the party’s top post – with the latter the bookies’ ­favourite to win.

Whoever emerges victorious will have a major rescue job on their hands in the wake of a disastrous election which reduced the Lib Dems to a rump of just eight MPs in the Commons.

Some 60,000 party members have been eligible to take part in the ballot, which closed at 2pm.There was no indication as polls closed of how many have cast a vote.

Between them, the two candidates have attended 25 hustings, more than 100 campaign events and covered about 20,000 miles.

They announced their intentions to stand within a week of former party leader Nick Clegg’s resignation speech the day after the general election, in which the party lost 85 per cent of its MPs and two-thirds of its voters.

The Liberal Democrats have been left with just one MP north of the Border, the former Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael, who represents Orkey and Shetland.