Charles Kennedy

The Right Honourable Charles Peter Kennedy (born 25 November 1959) is a British politician, who has been leader of the Liberal Democrats (the third largest political party in the United Kingdom) since 1999.

Leadership

On August 9, 1999, Charles Kennedy was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats after the retirement of Paddy Ashdown; he beat Jackie Ballard, Malcolm Bruce, Simon Hughes and David Rendel. He won 57% of the vote in the final round through a proportional representation system (Simon Hughes, the runner-up, won 43% of the vote).

Related Topics:
August 9 - 1999 - Paddy Ashdown - Jackie Ballard - Malcolm Bruce - Simon Hughes - David Rendel - Proportional representation

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Kennedy's style of leadership is somewhat different from Ashdown's, being regarded as more conversational and "laid back". Although he has been dismissed as "Chatshow Charlie" by some observers, as a result of his appearances on the satirical panel game Have I Got News For You, opinion polls have shown him to be positively regarded as a party leader and potential Prime Minister by a significant fraction of the British electorate.

Related Topics:
Satirical - Panel game - Have I Got News For You - Opinion poll - Prime Minister

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Kennedy maintains the long standing aspiration for his party to break through to the status of official opposition. In his first major campaign, the 2001 general election, the Liberal Democrats improved their share of the vote to 18.3%, 1.5% more than in the 1997 election. Although this is a smaller share than the 25.4% the SDP/Liberal Alliance achieved in 1983, the Lib Dems won 52 seats compared to the Alliance's 23. In the 2005 election his party achieved a total of 62 seats, with 22.0% of the overall vote (excluding the posponed vote in South Staffordshire).

Related Topics:
Official opposition - 2001 general election - 1997 election - In 1983 - 2005 - South Staffordshire

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Kennedy, along with his "election guru" Lord Rennard, has targeted the Lib Dems' campaigning on a limited number of seats in such a way as to turn a lower level of national support into a greater number of Parliamentary seats. He extended this strategy at the 2005 General Election targeting the seats held by the most senior and/or highly regarded Conservative MPs, dubbed a "decapitation" strategy, with the expectation that without these "key" figures, the Conservatives would be discredited as the Official Opposition allowing Charles Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats to claim that they are the "effective Opposition".

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However, this strategy is widely seen to have failed. At the 2005 General Election, the Liberal Democrats 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 Theresa May and the Leader of the Opposition Michael Howard. The biggest "scalp" the Liberal Democrats managed to claim was that of the Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins in Westmorland and Lonsdale.

Related Topics:
Chancellor of the Exchequer - Oliver Letwin - Home Secretary - David Davis - Theresa May - Leader of the Opposition - Michael Howard - Education Secretary - Tim Collins - Westmorland and Lonsdale

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At the same time, the Lib Dems also hoped to capture marginal Labour seats, attracting Labour voters (particularly Muslim voters) who were dissatisfied because of the invasion of Iraq; the party succeded with this tactic in by-elections, taking Brent East and Leicester South from Labour.

Related Topics:
Muslim - Invasion of Iraq - By-election - Brent East - Leicester South

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Since the General Election, Kennedy's leadership has come under increased critisism from those who felt that if the Liberal Democrats could not capitalise and become the Official Opposition at a time when, arguably, the Official Opposition, the Conservative Party, were at a relatively weak position. Many have pointed the finger of blame at Kennedy for failing to widen the Party's appeal while others, like the former Deputy Chairman of the Federal Liberal Democrat Party, Donnachadh McCarthy, have resigned from the Party citing the party's shift to the right of the political spectrum under Kennedy in pursuit of Conservative votes.

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Sir Ludovic Kennedy, husband of Lady Moira Shearer Kennedy, condemned Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, for opposing euthanasia in 2001. He then resigned from the party to stand in the general election as an independent, on a platform of legalising voluntary euthanasia, but has since rejoined.

Related Topics:
Ludovic Kennedy - Moira Shearer Kennedy - 2001 - General election

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