Charles Peter Kennedy was a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006 and a Member of Parliament from 1983 to 2015, latterly for the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency.Kennedy was a member of three political parties. At the age of fifteen, he joined the Labour Party, followed in 1981 by the newly formed SDP , and in 1988, the Liberal Democrats, when the SDP merged with the Liberal Party.At the 1983 general election, Kennedy was elected for the SDP aged 23. He quickly emerged as a potential party leader, and in 1991, after the SDP and Liberal Party had merged, he became President of the Liberal Democrats; a position which he held for the next four years.
In 1999, after the resignation of Paddy Ashdown, Kennedy was elected as party leader, at the age of 39. He led the party through two general elections, increasing their number of seats in the House of Commons to their highest level since 1923, and led his party's opposition to the Iraq War. A charismatic and affable speaker in public, he appeared extensively on television during his leadership.
During the latter stages of Kennedy's leadership, there was concern about both his leadership and his health. From December 2005, some within the party were openly questioning his position and calling for a leadership election. On 5 January 2006, he was informed that ITN would be reporting that he had received treatment for a drinking problem and pre-empted the broadcast by admitting that he had had treatment and called a leadership election in which he intended to stand. This admission damaged his standing and 25 MPs signed a statement urging him to resign immediately, which he did on 7 January; he was replaced by Menzies Campbell.
After resigning as party leader, Kennedy remained in office as a backbench MP. After the 2010 general election he voted against Nick Clegg's decision to form a coalition with the Conservative Party. On constitutional reform, he was a long-term supporter of full home rule for Scotland within a federal United Kingdom within a federal Europe. He lost his seat at the 2015 general election to Ian Blackford of the SNP, and died less than a month later from a haemorrhage linked to his alcoholism.
Speech given to the 2005 Liberal Democrat Party Conference
