The Guardian backs Sir Menzies

10.51.54am GMT Tue 7th Feb 2006

Today's Guardian has a comment piece backing Sir. Menzies Campbell for Leader of the Liberal Democrats. The piece is below, it certainly highlights some of my own feelings.

Lib Dem leadership

Needed: a solid professional

Envelopes containing leadership election ballot papers will begin to drop on the doormats of Liberal Democrat party members today. Let us hope that the act of opening them will supply a sharp collective dose of much-needed political care and thought to the shell-shocked party. If ever there was a moment when Lib Dems needed to raise themselves above the accumulated debris of their recent follies, this is it. Four weeks from now, the Lib Dems will have a new leader. Which of the three candidates - Menzies Campbell, Simon Hughes or Chris Huhne - should the party choose?

The smart and slippery, but nonetheless relevant, answer to that question is: none of the above. The best leader for the Liberal Democrats at this stage of this parliament would have been Charles Kennedy. Mr Kennedy should have stepped aside midway through the parliament. That would have given the party time to complete its post-election policy reviews, to adjust to the emergence of David Cameron and to launch Mr Kennedy's successor on a wave that led clearly to the next election. It would also have given time for the talented new generation of MPs from the 2005 intake to make more of a mark, perhaps as credible leadership candidates. In the event, none of these things has happened. The daftest circumstances for the Lib Dems to be changing leader are those with which they are now saddled.

The premature circumstances count against the audacious candidacy of Mr Huhne. Mr Huhne is an unknown quantity to many in his party and to most in the country. There is, of course, a case for that, precisely because, like Mr Cameron, he is a fresh face. Mr Huhne has run a creative campaign and it is no small achievement to have come from rank outsider to serious contender. But Mr Huhne's campaign, in contrast to Mr Cameron's in the Tory contest, has drifted rather too easily into the party's comfort zone, stressing issues like localism and Iraq troop withdrawal while avoiding harder questions. He can be very patronising to people he needs to rely on. Like his fellow 2005 MP Nick Clegg, Mr Huhne is a political Theo Walcott, a man for the future not for today. His main task right now is to prove he can retain his marginal seat.

The real chance is between the two thoroughbreds that the party and the country knows. Mr Hughes is a genuine liberal who appeals to many in his party. His political instincts are theirs - but that was true of Michael Foot and Iain Duncan Smith in their parties. He is a street fighter and an instinctive radical who is happy in a scrap with Labour. But his appeal is not as wide as his supporters like to think, especially among Lib Dem-Tory switchers attracted to Mr Cameron. Nor was he as successful a candidate for the London mayor's job as he expected. He is also, in the wake of his admissions about his private life, very vulnerable to the charge that his word cannot be trusted. Mr Hughes would be a better leader than his enemies pretend, but there is no denying that he is a risk.

That leaves Sir Menzies. The acting leader is a deep-dyed liberal too, much more so than many people realise. But he combines it with a palpable good sense and judgment that is currently in short supply in the party. Sir Menzies is also articulate and gets most things right. He will not force the party sharply to either the right or the left. He is a more determined figure than his urbane appearance implies. As a result he is respected by all in the party, has few enemies and would not be a divisive choice. This will be an exceptionally demanding period for the Liberal Democrats. Nothing will be easy for the party. But the Lib Dems do not need a shot in the dark. They need a period of solid professionalism. That is why Sir Menzies Campbell is the best man to lead them out of their present confusions and into the searching challenges of the next election.