in 1988. He was the first of several Liberals to walk out of the negotiations, citing the commitment to NATO in the constitutional preamble for the merged party. He argued for a "No" vote to the merger at the special Liberal Assembly in Blackpool, but the vote went in favour of merger by 2099 votes to 385, with 23 abstentions. He briefly stayed with the Social and Liberal Democrats (the name was later shortened to the 'Liberal Democrats') to support Alan Beith's candidacy for leader. After Beith was defeated by Paddy Ashdown, he became a co-founder and the first leader of the continuing Liberal Party, which attracted some liberals disillusioned with the political and financial problems of the Social and Liberal Democrats. Returning to local politics, he stood to be elected once again to Leeds City Council and contested Bramley ward in the 1990 and 1991 elections. Meadowcroft stood against John Battle again in Leeds West in 1992 as the Liberal Party candidate. He finished in fourth place, behind Battle, Paul Bartlett of the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat candidate Viscount Morpeth. On 5 October 2007, it was announced that Meadowcroft had joined the Liberal Democrats, citing the party's opposition to the Iraq War, its rejection of the identity cards policy and their commitment to a united Europe. He defended the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement in 2010, saying that Labour had refused to negotiate with them, and that the deal with the Conservatives won concessions on electoral reform and civil liberties. Meadowcroft was one of the few senior Liberal Democrats to defend Bradford East MP David Ward, who was expelled from the party in 2017 over comments critical of Israel and Zionism: he described Ward's treatment as "shameful". IICSA investigation into Cyril Smith As Chair of the Liberal Party's Assembly between 1977 and 1981, Meadowcroft has been questioned by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, in relation to the Liberal MP Cyril Smith, who was arrested several times for sexual abuse but never charged. In his response to a request from the Inquiry under Rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules 2006, Meadowcroft asserted that he had no personal knowledge of the Lancashire Constabulary investigation into Cyril Smith or what the Liberal Party may have known about it. Taking into account the comments by Meadowcroft and other senior Liberals from the period, the Inquiry concluded, "The idea that the Liberal