Charles Kennedy has died

skallywag

RIP

I liked listening to him speak.

Jakey Rolling

Sorry to see him go so soon. I liked his affable and straightforward personality.

He was one of the few who spoke out at the time against Blair's war on Iraq. He also had the prescience to argue against the Lib Dems going into coalition with the Tories as he knew they would suffer as the junior partner.

Basically lost his seat as Labour supporters flocked to SNP following the Independence Referendum. He himself supported the No vote but warned against the negative scaremongering that was so prevalent by the No side.

efb

He was a very principled politician but alcohol is an unforgiving mistress

cml387

His father died in April, and he lost his seat in May.:(

A Dub in Glasgo

Jakey Rolling wrote: »

Basically lost his seat as Labour supporters flocked to SNP following the Independence Referendum

RIP to Kennedy

The above is not correct though, even a cursory look at his constituency result will show that he got 35.9% of the vote down from 52.6% at the 2010 election (58.7% at the 2005 election). That is a massive drop

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

He seemed like a more sincere politician than the vast majority in Westminster.

The Corinthian

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

RIP to Kennedy

Indeed.

The above is not correct though, even a cursory look at his constituency result will show that he got 35.9% of the vote down from 52.6% at the 2010 election (58.7% at the 2005 election). That is a massive drop

Not really surprising. They didn't really sell themselves as an effective party in coalition and the one big thing they promised to do, proportional representation, well. What did happen to that?

gallag

The Corinthian wrote: »

Indeed.

Not really surprising. They didn't really sell themselves as an effective party in coalition and the one big thing they promised to do, proportional representation, well. What did happen to that?

Plus he really pushed for the UK to adopt the euro! Hard to get over that level of incompetence

The Corinthian

gallag wrote: »

Plus he really pushed for the UK to adopt the euro! Hard to get over that level of incompetence

Looking to grind same your axe on every thread?

gallag

The Corinthian wrote: »

Looking to grind same your axe on every thread?

What are you on about? I was making a genuine post as to how the late Mr Kennedy lost popularity ffs, you seem to be the one with the axe to grind! You should know better than to derail a thread like this!

A Dub in Glasgo

gallag wrote: »

I was making a genuine post as to how the late Mr Kennedy lost popularity ffs, this!

I very much doubt he lost popularity because he wanted to see UK join the Euro as some stage in his lifetime (I assume he expected to live into his 70's or 80's)

NIMAN

I take it the way the news have been skirting aroind the issue that it was likely suicide?

NIMAN

NIMAN wrote: »

I take it the way the news have been skirting aroind the issue that it was likely suicide?

They're skirting around the term alcoholism, not suicide.

NIMAN

Alcohol has been mentioned frequently, suicide not yet.

They just keep saying he was found dead.

NIMAN

NIMAN wrote: »

Alcohol has been mentioned frequently, suicide not yet.

They just keep saying he was found dead.

You know that alcoholism can lead to an early death, right?

Nobody has suggested suicide; there's no reason to presume suicide.

Nodin

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

They're skirting around the term alcoholism, not suicide.

He wasn't always drinking, but when he hit the bottle he tended to hit it hard apparently. Did not look at all well during the campaign according to the media across the water. Shame that he never managed to conquer it, for his own personal life after his leadership if nothing else.

The Corinthian

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

I very much doubt he lost popularity because he wanted to see UK join the Euro as some stage in his lifetime (I assume he expected to live into his 70's or 80's)

Nothing to do with the Euro, that's just gallag usual tracing of all the the Worlds woes back to the EU and Euro.

As to Kennedy's loss of popularity, that was more thanks to Nick Clegg ad the Lib Dems woeful performance coalition, than anything to do with him. They had the first and best opportunity to change the British political system to PR and went for the ministerial jobs instead. British voters repaid them for this self serving approach.

gallag

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

I very much doubt he lost popularity because he wanted to see UK join the Euro as some stage in his lifetime (I assume he expected to live into his 70's or 80's)

When Charles was leader he was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the UK to ditch the pound and adopt the euro.

gallag

The Corinthian wrote: »

Nothing to do with the Euro, that's just gallag usual tracing of all the the Worlds woes back to the EU and Euro.

Could you stop attacking the poster? I made a valid point about how Kennedy could have lost popularity, you are yet again trying to drag a thread of topic!

The Corinthian

gallag wrote: »

Could you stop attacking the poster? I made a valid point about how Kennedy could have lost popularity, you are yet again trying to drag a thread of topic!

The 'valid', off topic, point that no one else thinks is valid? Heh.

Tabnabs

gallag wrote: »

When Charles was leader he was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the UK to ditch the pound and adopt the euro.

If a week is a long time in politics, nine years is many lifetimes ago. People have long since lost interest in his views on the Euro.

He opposed the Iraq war and the Lib Dems picked up 62 seats in the 2005 Westminster elections, but fell far short of the 80-100 that they were expected to gain. With that the knives were out and he lost the leadership role in 2006.

He backed the pro-union stance in the Scottish referendum and in the surge of nationalist SNP voting he lost his seat. We'll never know if he could have regained the seat in the next parliamentary elections?

gallag

The Corinthian wrote: »

The 'valid', off topic, point that no one else thinks is valid? Heh.

What is your problem, the discussion was about how Charles Kennedy lost popularity, i pointed out that he was an advocate of a policy that would have completely ruined the country and then you come in completely of topic playing the poster instead of the post. You are out of order here.

gallag

Tabnabs wrote: »

If a week is a long time in politics, nine years is many lifetimes ago. People have long since lost interest in his views on the Euro.

He opposed the Iraq war and the Lib Dems picked up 62 seats in the 2005 Westminster elections, but fell far short of the 80-100 that they were expected to gain. With that the knives were out and he lost the leadership role in 2006.

He backed the pro-union stance in the Scottish referendum and in the surge of nationalist SNP voting he lost his seat. We'll never know if he could have regained the seat in the next parliamentary elections?

Yeah I can agree with this, I still think him having a policy that would have destroyed the country would still be relevant in the demise of his popularity also, most Scotts, even on independence would fell strongly about keeping the pound.

The Corinthian

gallag wrote: »

What is your problem, the discussion was about how Charles Kennedy lost popularity, i pointed out that he was an advocate of a policy that would have completely ruined the country and then you come in completely of topic playing the poster instead of the post.

He was an advocate of a policy you don't like. It's your opinion - fair enough - but you've never demonstrated otherwise, so I'm not sure why you persist in stating it as fact, especially when to do so here would be to drag the discussion off topic.

Not that it matters, because it is clear that it had nothing to do with his Euro stance as his popularity increased subsequent to this, and other, stances and only went down in the last election. This is something that's been pointed out my multiple people in this thread, too. A bit of basic logic might allow you to put the rather obvious pieces together.

So would you like to discuss the topic, which is the death of this politician, his life and his influence on the Lib Dems (someone who managed to take over from Paddy Ashdown - no mean a feat), given this, or just try pushing your favourite subject on us all instead?

gallag wrote: »

Yeah I can agree with this, I still think him having a policy that would have destroyed the country would still be relevant in the demise of his popularity also, most Scotts, even on independence would fell strongly about keeping the pound.

You agreed with him then said the opposite of what he said. And continued talking about the Euro. Nice trick.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

gallag wrote: »

Yeah I can agree with this, I still think him having a policy that would have destroyed the country would still be relevant in the demise of his popularity also, most Scotts, even on independence would fell strongly about keeping the pound.

The Lib Dems lost 10 of its 11 MPs at the last general election in Scotland. The euro/pound debate played no role in the loss of those seats.

TomBtheGoat

Nodin wrote: »

He wasn't always drinking, but when he hit the bottle he tended to hit it hard apparently. Did not look at all well during the campaign according to the media across the water. Shame that he never managed to conquer it, for his own personal life after his leadership if nothing else.

It really is a terrible curse. I lost an Uncle like that, he didn't drink very regularly. But when he did, he hit it very hard. Kennedy seem like quite a unlikeable chap and such a pity to him passing.

A Dub in Glasgo

Funeral was yesterday and it was a beautiful day with blue skies and pockets of snow on Ben Nevis which provided the backdrop to the funeral service

Nodin

TomBtheGoat wrote: »

It really is a terrible curse. I lost an Uncle like that, he didn't drink very regularly. But when he did, he hit it very hard. Kennedy seem like quite a unlikeable chap and such a pity to him passing.

Oddly I did too.

There were various incidents where he'd turn up and either be well on or too ill to carry on. One particular party conference saw him deliver his leaders address suffering from a particularily harsh "flu". I remember at the time of his overthrow, there was talk of 'broken promises' and the impression of burnt bridges.