Sir Menzies Campbell MP – Favourite and guilty?
There is an excellent article in today’s Independent which outlines the events surrounding Kennedy’s drinking and how MPs had been involved in the cover-up.
Menzies Campbell has emerged as firm favourite to succeed as Leader; it also emerges that he has been at the heart of the cover-up over Kennedy’s drinking and was therefore fully aware that he had a drinking problem during General Election 2005. There is also some comment in the media that Ming the Merciless was also at the heart of the recent campaign to get rid of Kennedy which resulted in the public exposure.
There is a strong element of hypocrisy in this. He was happy to keep Charles Kennedy as leader by maintaining a deceit of the electorate in the run up to the General Election campaign at a time when exposure would have done him harm, only to masterminding a coup when it suited.
If this is true (and I do not see any denials from Menzies Campbell), surely it is perfect evidence that he is totally unfit for office he is campaigning for.
If, as I suspect, Charles Kennedy wished to keep his fight with alcoholism as a private affair, the best option would have been for a resignation when he first admitted the problem. Keeping up with the denial in public was bad for Charles Kennedy – and if his so-called aides had his best interests at heart they should have demanded his resignation way back when he admitted the problem.
Unfortunately, this would have been disastrous for the Liberal Democrats prospects in the 2005 General Election so they chose to preserve their careers at the expense of Charles Kennedy and the electorate. Lib Dems have to decide whether it is right for the person who was at the heart of all this is the right person to succeed Charles Kennedy.
Menzies Campbell has emerged as firm favourite to succeed as Leader; it also emerges that he has been at the heart of the cover-up over Kennedy’s drinking and was therefore fully aware that he had a drinking problem during General Election 2005. There is also some comment in the media that Ming the Merciless was also at the heart of the recent campaign to get rid of Kennedy which resulted in the public exposure.
There is a strong element of hypocrisy in this. He was happy to keep Charles Kennedy as leader by maintaining a deceit of the electorate in the run up to the General Election campaign at a time when exposure would have done him harm, only to masterminding a coup when it suited.
If this is true (and I do not see any denials from Menzies Campbell), surely it is perfect evidence that he is totally unfit for office he is campaigning for.
If, as I suspect, Charles Kennedy wished to keep his fight with alcoholism as a private affair, the best option would have been for a resignation when he first admitted the problem. Keeping up with the denial in public was bad for Charles Kennedy – and if his so-called aides had his best interests at heart they should have demanded his resignation way back when he admitted the problem.
Unfortunately, this would have been disastrous for the Liberal Democrats prospects in the 2005 General Election so they chose to preserve their careers at the expense of Charles Kennedy and the electorate. Lib Dems have to decide whether it is right for the person who was at the heart of all this is the right person to succeed Charles Kennedy.
posted by Martin Curtis at 6:46 PM
5 Comments:
Don't believe everything you read in the Mail on Sunday... they, like you, are worried that under Campbell the Lib Dems may well turn out to be a great deal more effective than under Kennedy, and will pose a threat to the inexperienced Cameron and his Tory revival.
1. I resent being accused of reading The Mail :>), I don't like right-wing propaganda - it contributes to the Spin agenda.
2. Sir Ming is now damaged goods and will never have credibility with the electorate.
3. I have said before that the best Conservative option was for Kennedy to stay, but it was the wrong thing for politics.
4. I would love a contest between Simon Hughes and Ming - because the ultimate winner would be the Conservatives.
I've always admired Ming the Merciless from afar, as he appears to me as more statesman-like than anyboby on the other benches. However, I must admit that his actions as reported in parts of the MSM came as a bit of a surprise, but should we be surprised that a leading politician acts like a politician? Perhaps not; cynicism, back stabbing, and treachery play a part in every politicians success so maybe we shouldn't judge Ming too harshly.
My money is on Mark Oaten, as the more traditional Liberal rather than Simon Hughes from the touchy feely wing of the party.
I'm no Libdem, but it will be interesting to see which direction they take.
John,
I sort of agree with you, Ming has always come across as a Statesman. However, so did Douglas Hurd and he was never PM/leadership material, I think that also applies here.
This culture of cynicism etc. is what this Blog is about - why should we accept it as it is? But more important to me is that no-one seems to care about the web of lies spun by the Lib Dems during the last General Election. Preserving political careers at the expense of the truth can never be acceptable.
I really don't care who wins, I just want to know what they knew during the General Election campaign.
Interestingly, Norman Lamb - who was CK's PPS at the last election - has tried to come out with an "I knew nothing" stance in the Eastern Daily Press - except it is not very convincing.
Martin,
I can't judge the Libdems too harshly for not ditching Kennedy in the run up to the election.
On the one hand, a typical Liberal MP would most likely have seen someone with a drink problem, but probably not been aware of the extent of the problem, or the fact that alcoholics have a tendency to convincingly deny their plight. On the otherhand, de-throning Kennedy then, rather than post election, would be to guarantee Blair a bigger majority.
On would have needed to possess a degree of honour and integrity far greater than that possessed by current politicians to have done “the right thing”.
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