Charles Kennedy

Sad to hear of the death yesterday of former Lib Dem leader, Charles Kennedy.

He's always been one of the politicians I've both admired and liked and there aren't many of them.

I'll probably contradict something I've written before, but he was the one that made the Lib Dems a viable proposition and was why I voted for them in 2001 (it didn't help that Labour's enormous 1997 majority had enabled them to push through some...questionable policies). His opposition to the Iraq War (which as he reminded parliament, was also the view of the majority of the electorate) is well-known and has ultimately proved to be correct. And I think the way he was made to resign after admitting his alcoholism was disgraceful. Where was Nick Clegg's concern for those with mental illnesses then?

But as so many have already said, he still carried on, seemingly without bitterness or rancour.  I honestly thought he might be one of the few Lib Dems to hold onto their seat in the 2015 election purely through his personal popularity, but sadly not.

55 is no age, as they say. I wonder what he'd have done next, had he lived? Intriguingly, Alistair Campbell has written this morning that he had at some point close to the election, he had received a text from CK: "fancy starting a new Scottish left-leaning party? I joke not."