The Times: three strong arguments for Ming Campbell
Tim Hames sets out three strong arguments for supporting Ming Campbell in yesterday’s Times.
It seems to me that there are three strong arguments for Sir Menzies.
The first is the need for the Liberal Democrats to achieve (positive) media exposure… Leaders of third parties, alas, have no automatic right to a prominent place on the nation’s airwaves.
Paddy Ashdown punched above his weight in this respect because his past career meant that he was regarded as possessing an expertise on military matters. Sir Menzies’s established track record means that television producers will have few qualms about calling on him to comment on international developments.
The second argument is the obligation on a leader of a third party to play himself off against his two larger rivals. Mr Kennedy could do that against Tony Blair and William Hague/Iain Duncan Smith/Michael Howard, yet did not seem such a convincing prospect competing with Gordon Brown and David Cameron in 2009-2010. In an ideal world, the Liberal Democrats might now select their equivalent to Mr Cameron in Nick Clegg, the young MP for Sheffield Hallam. He, rightly, senses that it is not his time. There is a logical case, therefore, in the Liberal Democrats opting for the “Not Mr Cameron” candidate. Mr Brown and Sir Menzies together might say to the electorate that the choice was one of “Men against Boys”.
The final factor concerns political arithmetic. The result of the last general election means that a hung Parliament is a realistic prospect next time. That was not so in 1997, 2001 or 2005. It means that the Liberal Democrats could and should be prepared to form a coalition. To fulfil that role, they have to be seen as capable of working with either Labour or the Conservatives — depending on the balance of seats after the election.
They have to appear responsible as well as radical, which demands that the plausible stance on tax and spending promoted by Vince Cable and David Laws (both of whom are in the Campbell camp) is adopted wholesale. The Liberal Democrat leader himself has to come across as the sort of chap who could carry a ministerial red box with conviction.
