Kennedy stands tall
Charles Kennedy answered his critics yesterday when he received a standing ovation lasting nearly five minutes at the end of the Lib Dem conference in Blackpool.
Media speculation about his future as party leader has dogged this year’s annual conference, fuelled by defeats by the rank and file over EU budget capping and the privatisation of the Royal Mail.
But delivering his closing speech to a packed hall yesterday, Mr Kennedy insisted he would stay to fight another election and reaffirmed his determination that the Lib Dems should win.
“My ambition is to be the first government in the liberal tradition in the 21st century,” he said, to loud applause.
Rejecting criticism that he is not prepared for potential rebellion during a review of party policy, Mr Kennedy insisted that leadership was as much about providing direction as knowing when “it is the right time to listen”.
“Four months after leading the party into the best election result in half a century seems like a sensible time for me for the leader to take stock – to consult and to come back to you with the correct conclusions,” he said.
“That is how I have sought to lead this party in the past six years and that is how I intend to continue leading the party into the future.
“Others may have become so full of themselves that they think they’re full of better ideas about leadership – but what I’ve set out is the sensible, genuine and mature way to lead a political party.”
A review of policy was vital to ensure the Lib Dems knew where they stood at the next general election, he said, where he was sure “the Tories cannot win”, but where “Labour could certainly lose”.
That then would be the Lib Dems’ opportunity – and their challenge. “I will lead this party into the next election as a clear alternative to a discredited government,” he said.
Much of the debate over the course of conference was about where the Lib Dems should go now, having consolidated their presence in Westminster but failed to make the major breakthrough many had expected.
Efforts to pigeonhole the party into being left or right of the political spectrum were met with derision across the board, however, with many of the Lib Dems’ rising stars insisting that forging an independent identity and political vision was more important.
And yesterday Mr Kennedy reiterated this, with some of the loudest cheers – aside from when he spoke on civil liberties and Iraq – reserved for his assertion that “we must not allow ourselves to be led by the media and define our debate in their terms”.
