Liberal Democrats ‘come of age’, says Kennedy
The Liberal Democrats have “come of age”, leader Charles Kennedy told his new crop of MPs yesterday.
With the Lib Dems winning 16 and losing five seats on Thursday, they now have 62 MPs in the Commons, the highest number in more than 80 years.
Mr Kennedy told the parliamentary party, he was confident he could lead the party to seize the initiative from the Tories to become the effective opposition in the new Parliament.
“We have a golden opportunity to seize the initiative in the new Parliament,” Mr Kennedy said.
Mr Kennedy also pledged a thorough “clean sheet” review of party policy, saying their was much to celebrate but also an “awful lot to do”.
“No area will be more crucial to our fortunes than taxation,” the Scot said at Westminster.
“I hope that the party is prepared to be imaginative, to be innovative and to be bold.
“Our country is going through a period of great social and economic change and all too often it strikes me, politicians are left fighting yesterday’s battles on the basis of an outdated view of how society actually operates.”
Reasserting his desire to lead the party, Mr Kennedy said he was confident of leading Lib Dems to challenge for power at the next election.
“In an era of three-party politics with no party able to claim to represent more than a minority of the electorate, we enter uncharted waters. But we do so in bullish mood.
“The political momentum is with the Liberal Democrats. Between us, we must now build on this momentum.”
