I am supporting Ming Campbell to become leader of our Party.

Liberal Democrats can celebrate the commitment, talent and hard work of our MPs and peers. These qualities will take us much further given time and experience. Ming Campbell is the leader we need to guide us through the challenging years ahead. Years in which security and liberty need to be carefully balanced, years in which we need to mobilise people of all races and religions to reject violence while seeking greater social justice here and in the world beyond.

Ming is widely admired for his judgement, his wisdom and his thoughtful championing of fundamental freedoms. He refuses to play the game of spin. He deserves our support.

I hope you will give him your 1st preference vote.

I believe Menzies Campbell is the best person to take the Party forward.

I have known Campbell since his student days. When fellow Glasgow University students John Smith, Donald Dewar and Derry Irvine were honing their skills with the prospect of sound careers in the Labour Party, Ming – like me in the safer pastures of Edinburgh – joined the Liberals, who had only half a dozen MPs.

His Liberalism has been bold and consistent. In 1970 as the be-medalled “fastest man in Britain”, he used his sporting popularity to help rescue me in the difficult task of opposing the then-racist Springboks’ visit to my constituency in the rugby-mad Scottish Borders. We have been close friends ever since.

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Dear Fellow Member,

Since I was elected leader of our great party, we have grown in size and influence in every year, at every election and at every level.

Now our members must decide who should lead the Liberal Democrats to the next level.

The decision that we take is vitally important. After all, our ambition must be to break the 100 seat barrier and challenge for government.

But to take this step up, to reach this next level, we will need a leader of undisputed authority and credibility.

That is why I am supporting Ming Campbell.

All three candidates have their strengths. But Ming is not just a party leader, he is also a national leader. He is a politician with the stature to take on and beat Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

My judgement is that the British public will tire of a politics characterised by flim-flam and modishness. If elected, Ming will offer principled leadership based on values and conviction.

I believe that in the next period of our politics – that will be set against the backdrop of a growing crisis in the Middle East and the challenges of nuclear proliferation – foreign policy will play an unusually large part in the future of our country and the Western world.

Ming Campbell is also the candidate with the greatest experience. Nothing can prepare a person for the challenge of becoming a party leader. What we need is someone with a proven track record in parliament and politics. A leader who has consistently shown the character and judgement to command the confidence of his colleagues.

And crucially, the new leader also needs to be a strong team player. It is no coincidence that Ming has the backing of the overwhelming majority of parliamentarians and members who have worked alongside him. He is also the person who can provide the leadership and professionalism necessary to inspire and unleash a uniquely talented new generation of Liberal Democrats.

So I will be giving my vote to Ming Campbell. But we have a proud democratic tradition in the Liberal Democrats: every member has a vote, and every vote counts equally.

This is an important decision, so do please use your vote.

Paddy