Drinks-row UK party leader resigns

CNN ^ | 1/7/06 | Associated Press

[Zeroisanumber]

LONDON, England (AP) -- The leader of Britain's opposition Liberal Democrats resigned under heavy pressure from the party Saturday, days after he acknowledged battling a drinking problem.

Charles Kennedy initially resisted stepping down despite calls from nearly half of the party's lawmakers for him to resign, saying the Liberal Democrats' rank and file still backed him.

[Zeroisanumber]

This will take some pressure off of Tony Blair, but Kennedy was ineffectual in his opposition to Labor. Hopefully, the Liberal Democrats don't elect anyone better to lead them next time.

Also, I thought when I first read this that it was Ted Kennedy, sorry if that disappoints anyone. :-)

[stephenjohnbanker]

"Also, I thought when I first read this that it was Ted Kennedy "

Talk About Alice Through the Looking Glass.............the Kennedy clan are left wing drunks all over the world!

[Torie]

I guess the best advice, if that if you last name is Kennedy, you don't have the right genes to drink.

[Chode]

does kennedy mean Drunken Pervert in Irish???

[Sociopathocracy]

does kennedy mean Drunken Pervert in Irish???

No, it meas "drunken pervert with poor driving skills and no moral compass."

[Canard]

"This will take some pressure off of Tony Blair, but Kennedy was ineffectual in his opposition to Labor."

Your second point kinda contradicts your first. Kennedy has been by and large an irrelevance. My reading of it is that a dynamic Lib Dem leader would land a lot more punches on Blair than Kennedy has managed. Blair is unloved by much of his own party and there should be a lot of ammunition for the Lib Dems to use that could cause the Labour left to get even more antsy.

The obvious contenders look to be Sir Menzies Campbell, who is fairly hot favourite, Simon Hughes and Mark Oaten. Campbell has experience and gravitas (ie is old). Hughes is a political pygmy. I think Oaten would be the smart choice. Personally, I'd like to see Lembit Opik get it, for his hilarious name and his continuous warnings of the danger of asteroid strikes on the Earth. It's about time this country had a serious anti-asteroid policy ;)