Like all Lib Dems, I have been thinking hard over the last few weeks about who to support in the Leadership contest. I’ve been looking for reassurance that the new Lib Dem leader would not only take forward the party nationally, but would also be behind us in the particular challenges we face in the North East.

After an initial conversation with each of the candidates, I sent an open email, jointly with the Regional Chair Eileen Blakey, explaining the North East’s special position as the region with the second largest percentage of the Liberal Democrat vote in the country (in both 2004 and 2005). I asked each of the candidates how as leader they would help us realise our unique potential as a Lib Dem strong-hold.

In the light of the responses I received and further conversations, I am delighted to announce today that I’ll be voting for Ming.

Ming told me:

As the gloss goes off Labour, people will be turning to us in areas like the North East, not to the Conservatives. It is a critical region for us in the future. We need to think about how we invest our resources nationally when we can see this sort of potential.

While it is of course the Campaigns Department who decide how to support local parties, the mood music coming out of the Leader’s office is vital. Ming’s vision extends beyond London and the South East. I also believe that Ming has both the authority and the commitment to lead the Liberal Democrats in the present challenging circumstances.

Ming has both the authority and the commitment to lead the Liberal Democrats in the present challenging circumstances. He combines passion for Liberal values with a grasp of how to translate those into advances for the party.

As he rightly says, ‘to be a Liberal Democrat is to be a moderniser’. His intention to draw on all strands of liberalism in marking out distinctive territory in British politics will ensure that the party pulls strongly together in the quest for greater electoral success.

Sir Menzies is well respected by members of the public, the media and politicians across all parties. His extensive experience of local and international politics gives him the best chance of uniting the party at every level and provides the North West with a perspective that is not overly Londocentric.

I will enjoy working alongside Sir Campbell and feel confident that the party will recognise him as a solid pair of hands to take us forward.

As leader of the Scottish Young Liberals in 1976 I recall printing lapel badges about Ming Campbell which were unflattering, to say the least. That shows how strong an impression he made on me even 30 years ago. In the meantime Ming has been elected to Parliament and has become the Party’s most consistently impressive MP. I now hold him in high esteem – and will be wearing a more flattering lapel badge to show my support for his bid for the leadership.

Chris Davies wrote the following comments for the Liverpool Echo:

It was 10 years ago. Ming Campbell was addressing the Liberal Democrat conference and I was waiting my turn to speak. I saw on the stage an establishment figure dressed in a pinstriped suit, every inch a Scottish barrister. He’s too far to the right for me, I thought.

Then I listened to his words. People often think Ming Campbell talks sense about difficult issues. As the party’s foreign affairs spokesman he has gained respect across the party divide. But what I heard displayed not just wisdom but also passion, a fierce commitment to the promotion of human rights and individual freedom across the world. My kind of Liberal, I thought.

Liberal Democrats have more MPs than at any time since the 1920s but we are still the third party. If we are to grow then our leader has to look like a potential Prime Minister. Campbell fits the bill.

His first priority will be to tackle the most important issue of all, the future of life on this planet. “It’s the environment, the
environment and the environment,” he says, that plus a fight against the poverty that divides and weakens our society.

This is a man who grew up in a tenement. He was lucky, he went to university and became an Olympic athlete. But anyone who grew up in Glasgow during the 1950s knows something about poverty. He thinks it unjust that those on low wages pay proportionately more in tax than high earners.

To move forward on Merseyside our party has to turn its local support into parliamentary victories. Campbell understands the task ahead. He took the Liberals from fourth place to win his North East Fife seat. He knows what it’s like to be a party activist fighting an uphill struggle.

Exactly 100 years ago another Liberal leader called Campbell took the party to its greatest every election victory, and presided over a radical, reforming government whose members included Asquith, Lloyd George and Churchill. The present day Campbell possesses authority, wisdom and common sense in abundance. I want him to set his sights just as high.