Member of the Scottish Parliament Rumbles was elected to the
Scottish Parliament, for the
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency, in the
1999 election, securing 12,838 votes. Following the
Scottish Parliament's establishment in 1999, Rumbles was Convenor of the Standards Committee when it was charged with investigating the so-called 'Lobbygate' scandal, in which the son of the then
Secretary of State for Scotland John Reid was embroiled. He promoted the legislation to establish an independent Standards Commissioner, the first Committee Bill of the Parliament. He comfortably held West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine in the
2003 election, increasing his share of the vote to 46%. Rumbles was re-elected at the
2007 Scottish Parliament election, with 14,314 votes (41.4%), a reduction by 4.9%. The
Scottish Liberal Democrats had a poor showing at the
2011 Scottish Parliament election, dropping down to 5 MSPs). Rumbles, who had sought re-election in the successor
Aberdeenshire West constituency, lost out to
Dennis Robertson of the
Scottish National Party (SNP). He took 8,074 votes (28.2%), finishing second. At the
2016 Scottish Parliament election, Rumbles stood again in Aberdeenshire West, where he came third with 7,262 votes (20.6%). He was elected as a member for the
North East Scotland region, having been the lead Liberal Democrat candidate there. Rumbles did not contest the
2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leadership contests On 12 May 2005, Rumbles announced his intention to stand for the vacant post of leader of the
Scottish Liberal Democrats. His candidacy involved a distinct platform from his opponent
Nicol Stephen. In particular, he specified a number of 'deal-breakers' for any coalition negotiations that might occur in the aftermath of the
2007 Scottish Parliament elections, with an absolute insistence on the implementation of key Liberal Democrat policies such as abolition of the
council tax, and an enhancement of the
Scottish Parliament's powers. He also aimed to give the Liberal Democrats a more equal status within the coalition. He lost to Stephen in June 2005, winning 23.4% of the vote. On 2 July 2008, following Stephen's surprise resignation as leader, Rumbles again announced his intention to stand for the Scottish Liberal Democrat leadership. This time he stressed his commitment to reviewing party policy on whether to hold a national
referendum on
Scottish independence (the policy of the
Scottish National Party government). In the contest he faced former Ministers
Ross Finnie and
Tavish Scott. Scott won the contest comfortably. ==Personal life==