Charles Kennedy

In July 2002, Jeremy Paxman publicly apologised after asking Kennedy about his drinking in a television interview.[18] Reports emerged of Kennedy's ill-health in 2003 at the time of crucial debates on the Iraq War and after the 2004 Budget[19] along with linked rumours of a drinking problem which were strenuously denied at the time by both Kennedy and his party. The Times published an apology over a report it had made stating Kennedy had not taken part in that year's Budget debate because of excessive drinking.[20]

In April 2005, the launch of his party's manifesto for the 2005 general election was delayed because of the birth of his first child, with Menzies Campbell taking temporary charge as acting leader and covering Kennedy's campaign duties. At the manifesto launch, on his first day back on the campaign trail after the birth, Kennedy struggled to remember the details of a key policy (replacing the Council Tax with a local income tax) at an early morning press conference, which he later blamed on a lack of sleep due to his new child.[21][22]

Kennedy during the 2005 election campaign

In his last general election as leader, in May 2005, he extended his strategy from the 2001 election of targeting the seats held by the most senior and/or highly regarded Conservative MPs, dubbed a "decapitation" strategy.[23] The Liberal Democrats also hoped to capture marginal Labour seats, attracting (particularly Muslim) Labour voters who were dissatisfied because of the invasion of Iraq, which Kennedy's party had opposed.[24]

Just before the election, it had been anticipated by the media and opinion polls that the Liberal Democrats could win up to 100 seats and place themselves close to the Conservatives in terms of seats as well as votes.[25] They won 62 seats and 22.1% of the vote,[26] their greatest number of seats since their Liberal Party predecessor won 158 seats in 1923.[27]

The Liberal Democrats made a net loss of five seats to the Conservatives, only managing to win three seats from them.[28] While they were able to unseat Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins,[28] they failed to unseat leading Conservatives such as the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Oliver Letwin, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, Shadow Secretary of State for the Family (later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) Theresa May and the Leader of the Opposition Michael Howard. The "decapitation" strategy was widely seen to have failed.[29] They won twelve seats from Labour, but lost Leicester South.[30] They succeeded in regaining the seat of Ceredigion, their first gain from the Welsh party Plaid Cymru.[31]

Kennedy heralded the Liberal Democrats, who now had a total of 62 seats, as the "national party of the future",[32] but in the wake of the general election, Kennedy's leadership came under increased criticism from those who felt that the Liberal Democrats could have surged forward, with the official opposition Conservative Party having been relatively weak. Many pointed the finger of blame at Kennedy for failing to widen the party's appeal. Others, like the former Deputy Chairman of the Federal Liberal Democrat Party, Donnachadh McCarthy, resigned, citing the party's shift to the right of the political spectrum under Kennedy in pursuit of Conservative votes.[33]

After the election of David Cameron as Leader of the Conservative Party in December 2005, it was widely reported that senior members of the Liberal Democrats had told Kennedy that he must either "raise his game" or resign.[34] Speculation surrounding the leadership of the Liberal Democrats was widespread in late 2005, with the journalist Andrew Neil claiming to speak "on good authority" that Kennedy would announce his resignation at the 2006 spring conference of the Liberal Democrats. Kennedy's spokeswoman denied the report and complained against the BBC, which had broadcast it.[35]

A "Kennedy Must Go" petition was started by The Liberal magazine (a publication with no affiliation to the Liberal Democrats); this allegedly had been signed by over 3,300 party members including 386 local councillors and two MPs by the end of 2005.[36] A round-robin letter signed by Liberal Democrat MPs rejecting his leadership received 23 signatures.[37]

Kennedy in October 2007.

On 6 January 2006, Kennedy was informed that ITN would be reporting that he had received treatment for a drinking problem. He decided to pre-empt the broadcast, called a sudden news conference, and made a personal statement that over the past eighteen months he had been coming to terms with a drinking problem, but had sought professional help. He told reporters that recent questions among his colleagues about his suitability as leader were partly as a result of the drinking problem but stated that he had been dry for the past two months and would be calling a leadership contest, in which he would stand, to resolve the issues surrounding his authority once and for all.[38][39] It was later claimed that the source for ITN's story was his former press secretary turned ITV News correspondent, Daisy McAndrew.[40]

The admission of a drinking problem seriously damaged his standing, and 25 MPs signed a statement urging him to resign immediately.[41] It was later claimed in a biography of Kennedy by the journalist Greg Hurst that senior Liberal Democrats had known about Kennedy's drinking problem when he was elected as leader in 1999, and had subsequently kept it hidden from the public.[42][43]

On 7 January 2006, Kennedy called another press conference, at which he announced that while he was buoyed by the supportive messages he had received from grass root members, he felt that he could not continue as leader because of the lack of confidence from the parliamentary party. He said he would not be a candidate in the leadership election and was standing down as leader "with immediate effect", with Menzies Campbell to act as interim leader until a new leader was elected.[44] He also confirmed in his resignation statement that he did not expect to remain on the Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team. He pledged his loyalty to a new leader as a backbencher, and said he wished to remain active in the party and in politics. Campbell went on to win the resulting leadership election, and Kennedy subsequently gave his successor full public support.[45] His leadership had lasted slightly less than six years and five months.[46]

Charles Kennedy attending a debate at the Glasgow University Union on 10 February 2009

After resigning as party leader, Kennedy remained in office as a backbench MP. His first major political activity was to campaign in the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, which the Liberal Democrats went on to win, taking the seat from Labour.[47]

On 22 June 2006, Kennedy made his first appearance in the national media after stepping down as party leader when he appeared on the BBC's Question Time. One of the questions on the show was about his possible return as leader, which he declined to rule out.[48]

On 4 August 2006, he hosted a documentary on Channel 4 about what he saw as the increasing disenchantment felt by voters towards the main parties in British politics because of their hesitation to discuss the big issues, especially at election time, and the ruthless targeting of swing-voters in key constituencies at the expense of the majority. He also contributed an article covering the same issues to The Guardian's Comment Is Free section.[49]

After Campbell resigned as Liberal Democrat leader on 15 October 2007, Kennedy said that it was "highly unlikely" that he would try to return as party leader, but he did not rule it out completely.[50]

Kennedy lost his seat at the 2015 United Kingdom general election to Ian Blackford of the Scottish National Party,[51] amid a nationwide loss of forty-nine seats for the Liberal Democrats.[52]

At the 2010 general election, Kennedy was re-elected to parliament with a majority of 13,070.[10][53]

Kennedy voted against the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition in May 2010,[54] explaining in an article for The Observer that he "did not subscribe to the view that remaining in opposition ourselves, while extending responsible 'Confidence and supply' requirements to a minority Conservative administration, was tantamount to a 'do nothing' response". Finally, Kennedy warned of the risks of "a subsequent assimilation within the Conservative fold", adding: "David Cameron has been here often before: from the early days of his leadership he was happy to describe himself as a 'liberal Conservative'. And we know he dislikes the term Tory. These ongoing efforts at appropriation are going to have to be watched".[55][56]

The media reported on 21 August 2010 that Kennedy was about to defect from the Liberal Democrats to Labour in protest against his party's role in the coalition government's public spending cuts, but the Liberal Democrats were swift to deny these reports.[57]

Kennedy played a role in the cross-party Better Together campaign, which was the pro-union campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.[58] In March 2014, The Sunday Post reported that Kennedy had criticised Labour's strategy in the referendum campaign and said that Better Together needed to consider its legacy.[59]

In February 2008, Kennedy was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow[60] and was officially installed, succeeding Mordechai Vanunu, on 10 April 2008. He won the election with a 46% share of the vote, supported by not only his own Glasgow University Union but also the Queen Margaret Union and Glasgow University Sports Association. He was re-elected in February 2011, defeating one other candidate, the writer A. L. Kennedy, by a clear margin. He served six years as rector until Edward Snowden was elected in February 2014.[61]

• The Future of Politics (2000) ISBN 0-00-710131-7 (hardcover) ISBN 0-00-710132-5 (paperback)

• Hurst, Greg. Charles Kennedy: A Tragic Flaw. Politico's Publishing Ltd (18 September 2006) ISBN 1-84275-176-X