Charles Kennedy
| Constituency | Ross, Cromarty and Skye |
| Party | Liberal Democrats |
| Position | Leader |
| Year of First Entry into Parliament | 1983 |
Elected to the leadership on 9th August 1999, after a two-month leadership contest following Paddy Ashdown's retirement after the European Elections, this Scotsman was the bookies' favourite all the way through.
Perhaps it is his somewhat refreshingly laid-back attitude to life; perhaps it is the flow of dry wit that he produces in the Commons; perhaps it was promises to keep the links with Labour that Ashdown had developed; or perhaps it was merely a well-managed election campaign. Whichever, Kennedy took over the leadership in a blaze of fire, promising much... which led his defeated opponent to predict a LibDem government within the next ten years.
But since then all has gone strangely quiet. I have seen virtually nothing of Charles Kennedy or the LibDems since that day in August. The question has to be asked: does this man, indeed does anyone apart from Ashdown possess the necessary charisma to lead the party? After all, he is the one person people associate with them. He is the face of the LibDems. And now he is gone. I wait with interest to see from following elections whether the LibDems' recent successes have been due to the party, or due to the leader who is no longer around.