Political Crossfire Forums

[thundertaker]

http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=20892006

'Chatshow Charlie' has admitted he has a drink problem after years of speculation. Is this the end of Kennedy's political career (such as one can have as leader of the Lib-Dems).......

[Lord Hargreaves]

All he needs now is to come out and admit he has a crack habit and his support in the Lib Dem base will skyrocket. Voters love guys they can emphathise with :wink:

[Windy]

I think this might even be the end of the Lib Dems, a lot of there support, particularly among young people came because they were seen as being different to the other parties.
They didn't act like spoilt six year olds in Parliament and they acted the way you want politicians to act, now though they are acting even worse than the Tories, at least they stabbed the leaders in the back in private, now that particularly ever member of the Parliamentary party that doesn't like him is going onto the news or radio slagging him off people will see that they are just like the others and stop wasting their votes on them.

[thundertaker]

Lord Hargreaves wrote: All he needs now is to come out and admit he has a crack habit and his support in the Lib Dem base will skyrocket. Voters love guys they can emphathise with :wink: :lol:

[bury]

Kennedy was always useless but let's be honest, they're all useless none of them have leadership quality.
nobody has even declared their intension to run for leader because none of them have the balls to go for it.

[Pebble]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4590688.stm

Quote:
Embattled Kennedy quits as leader

Charles Kennedy makes his resignation speech
Mr Kennedy said he did not have enough support among MPs

Resignation speech
Charles Kennedy has resigned as Liberal Democrat leader.

In a statement at Lib Dem HQ, Mr Kennedy said he had been "inundated" with support from party members since admitting having a drink problem.

But it had become clear he did not have strong enough support among MPs and had decided to quit with immediate effect.

Deputy leader Sir Menzies Campbell has said he intends to stand in the leadership race. Simon Hughes and Mark Oaten could be among his rivals.

Mr Kennedy's resignation comes after 25 MPs delivered an ultimatum saying they would refuse to serve on the Lib Dem front bench unless he resigned by Monday.

'Stick with us'

Mr Kennedy on Thursday said he would call - and stand in - a leadership election after admitting battling to overcome a drink problem.

Now he says he will play no part in the contest for the leadership of the party which is the third biggest in the UK.

In his statement on Saturday afternoon, Mr Kennedy said he had thought it fair to give party members a say in his continuing leadership.


The party has to unite and move forward
Mark Oaten
Lib Dem frontbencher

But no MPs had come forward to stand against him in a leadership contest.

Mr Kennedy said he had enormously appreciated the messages of support received from grassroots members.

"However, it is clear now, that such support is not reflected strongly enough across the parliamentary party in the House of Commons itself," he said.

"In all of this the interests of the party have to come first. That is where my personal, political and constitutional duty lies.

"Accordingly, I am announcing today that when nominations open for the leadership of the party I shall not now be putting my name forward.

"And I am standing down as leader with immediate effect."

Legacy

Mr Kennedy stressed he wanted to remain in national and local politics for many years to come.

He said he had left the new leader with a "good inheritance", with the party's biggest number of MPs for 80 years.

Sir Menzies Campbell
Sir Menzies Campbell is acting as interim leader

There has been a debate inside the party between economic and social liberals but Mr Kennedy said the two positions were not irreconcilable.

He urged his successor to keep the debate within the "parameters" of Lib Dem principles "and not to get unduly distracted by the machinations in other parties or what the vagaries of the British voting system may offer-up at a future general election".

Leadership race

Party president Simon Hughes said the party's federal executive would meet on Monday to decide the rules for the leadership election, he said.

Mr Hughes, Sir Menzies and home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten are likely frontrunners in the leadership race.

Education spokesman Ed Davey, frontbencher Nick Clegg and former parliamentary party chairman Matthew Taylor have all ruled themselves out of the race.

Sir Menzies and Mr Oaten had said they would not stand in a contest if Mr Kennedy was a candidate and his departure leaves the field clear for them to run.

Sir Menzies, who is acting as interim leader, said he would be consulting his colleagues but intended to be a leadership candidate.

Some are hoping the party can unite around one candidate in a "coronation".

Asked about that prospect, Mr Oaten replied: "I need to talk to the other possible contenders but I'm in no mood to have a long drawn out issue."

Mr Oaten praised Mr Kennedy for showing "incredible dignity" in his resignation speech.

"I just hope now Charles can be allowed some privacy and the party has to unite and move forward," he said.

Mr Hughes refused to discuss whether he could be a leadership candidate, saying: "Today is to say thank you for Charles."

Change of mind

In an interview given to the Independent newspaper on Friday afternoon, Mr Kennedy said it would be a "dereliction of duty" to walk away from his job.

But BBC political editor Nick Robinson said overnight and on Saturday morning he had realised he was no longer a unity figure and he had to stand down.

Over the past two days senior MPs have repeatedly urged Mr Kennedy to resign, saying the current crisis was damaging the party.

More than half of his 62 MPs told a BBC Newsnight survey that Mr Kennedy should go or said his position was untenable.


You got your wish....

[thefranzkafkafront]

Hes a 'house sitter' leader, hopefully either some one desent who understands liberalism might take his place now or the party will just turn into a socalist one and leave a gap for a proper liberal party to take its place.

[Pebble]

The Lib Dems are centrist and that I think they'll remain.

To be honest at this moment in time there is not truly dedicated left wing party in the House of Commons.

Labour is a shallow shadow of what it once was with the old gaurd left wingers being relegated ot the back bench and pahsed out to accomodate Blair's yes men.

It's all very depressing.

[Snow Patrol]

A rather pointless move in my opinion, doesn't matter who becomes Lib Dem leader next they won't become Primeminister at the next election or 5 anyway. If this is merely a move for the sake of image, Tory's elect a new leader and Tony Blair will be retiring soon so time for Lib Dems to change for the sake of it kind of thing, and it certainly seems that way to me, then what a depressing state of affairs politics in this country has become. If you value style over substance then in my opinion there's something seriously lacking in your personality i.e. the existence of one of your own. Bleh.

Lib Dems seriously are, depending on who becomes the new leader of course, shooting themselves in the foot here. With the election of Blair the second as Tory leader, with his great image and no substance, saying whatever he thinks will win him votes, then the Lib Dems had the chance to solidy themselves as the party of, at least some, principle and as a viable alternative to the usual bulls**t of the main 2 parties. As Windy said in one of these threads, this was a significant factor in the growth of the Lib Dems in recent years and in their showing at the last electiion in gaining round about 23% of the popular vote. It looks to me as if they're about to squander and stagnate.

thefranzkafkafront wrote: hopefully either some one desent who understands liberalism might take his place now or the party will just turn into a socalist one and leave a gap for a proper liberal party to take its place.
The Lid Dems are not a "liberal" party though in the sense that you mean, and they're not supposed to be. May i remind you that that the Liberal party merged with the Social Democrats to form the Liberal Democrat party of today, and it is only since this time that they have emerged from the doldrums as any kind of political force and i think you would find that most Lib Dem voters would identify themselves as leaning at least slightly left of centre.

Feel free to start your own "real liberal" party and go back to barely scraping 6 MP's in the commons if you wish, best of luck to you man. :wink:

[thundertaker]

The next leader of the liberal democrats?



http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=32282006

[Pebble]

Quote:
Feel free to start your own "real liberal" party and go back to barely scraping 6 MP's in the commons if you wish, best of luck to you man. Wink

Been done.

www.liberal.org.uk

[Snow Patrol]

Pebble wrote: Quote: Feel free to start your own "real liberal" party and go back to barely scraping 6 MP's in the commons if you wish, best of luck to you man. Wink

Been done.

www.liberal.org.uk
:lol:

Look at that website, they have a "Not the LibDems" section, but then look at their "What we believe" section. Apart from semantics and a couple of issues, the difference between the two is negligible.

thundertaker wrote: The next leader of the liberal democrats?


:lol:

How awesome would it be for a politician to be known as "the Merciless" and not in an ironic way?

[thefranzkafkafront]

snow patrol wrote: The Lid Dems are not a "liberal" party though in the sense that you mean, and they're not supposed to be. May i remind you that that the Liberal party merged with the Social Democrats to form the Liberal Democrat party of today, and it is only since this time that they have emerged from the doldrums as any kind of political force and i think you would find that most Lib Dem voters would identify themselves as leaning at least slightly left of centre.

Feel free to start your own "real liberal" party and go back to barely scraping 6 MP's in the commons if you wish, best of luck to you man. Wink

Meh i like a challege, Liberalism was born in this country and it led this country to greatness.

Hell ill do it just to prove you wrong now :lol: :cool:

[thefranzkafkafront]

http://www.liberal.org.uk/

Jesus what a crap site.

Also there manifesto is a pile of crap.

Quote: At home its goal is a country in which the powers of the state will be used to establish social justice, to wage war against poverty, to spread wealth and power,

Quote: It believes that each generation is responsible for the fate of the Earth and the balance of nature. It works to ensure that people and institutions accept these responsibilities.

Quote: It looks forward to a world in which all peoples live together in peace under an effective and democratically constituted World Authority; in which all peoples are able to enjoy continuous access to the Earth’s environment and natural resources; in which the various cultures of mankind can develop freely without being warped by nationalist, racial or religious antagonism; and in which the free movement of ideas, of people and of goods is guaranteed to the benefit of all. To these ends it sees this country as committed to supporting and strengthening the United Nations, to working steadfastly for the eventual abolition of national armies and armaments, to co-operating with other countries to build a United Europe and to making a special effort together with richer nations towards assisting that part of mankind whose essential freedoms are denied by poverty and hunger. It welcomes the establishment of links with other countries insofar as such groupings advance these Liberal aims.

Liberalism my f***ing arse.