Can Kennedy survive?
March 27th, 2004It’s starting to looking pretty black for Charles Kennedy. The Guardian, which has been the most supportive paper since he failed to turn up for the budget ten days ago, has now joined the media bandwagon with a huge feature today speculating on who will take over from him.
But how will he actually go? I can’t see the LDs creating a situation like the one that saw the Tories boot out IDS last November. If he does go then it will be his decision and maybe the health factors will provide a good reason.
Many in the party are saying privately that CK totally wasted the extraordinary opportunity of the 2 years of IDS’s hapless leadership of the Tories to make the LDs central to UK politcal life and position the party as the only alternative to Labour. Now with the public trust in Blair having collapsed he is failing to take advantage again. My reading is that his heart is no longer in the job and I would not be surprised to hear him make a statement after he returns from the Easter break.
The chances of him going before the next election - less than evens.
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Must have read a different Guardian on Saturday. Editorial seemed to me to be broadly supportive whilst main article was talking about possible leadership contenders after next General Election
I\’m finding this one hard to read because I don\’t think that the party would act against him. As a Lib Dem I have a stict personal rule not to bet on Lib Dem markets because I find my judgements get skewed.
Seems a good rule