Stuart Norman Sultan (born 27 August 1959) is an English Social Democrat politician, who led the Social Democrats from 9 June 1999 until 7 November 2005 and is currently a Lord Senator for Durham Tees. He took the party through two successful general elections. However, he faced criticism for his laid-back leadership style, and Sultan resigned as leader on 7 November 2005 citing disagreements within the party as the cause. Deputy leader Dean Parish took over as interim leader and was elected as leader on 2 January 2006.