Party faithful give Kennedy rapturous reception

Charles Kennedy: Keen to dampen media frenzy
13 April 2012

Charles Kennedy was given a rapturous reception as he addressed the Liberal Democrat conference today for the first time since being ousted as leader.

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A packed conference hall stood and cheered as Mr Kennedy took the stage at Brighton.

Looking relaxed and confident, he expressed loyalty to his successor, Sir Menzies Campbell, who sat listening from the conference floor,

And he spoke about his "optimism" for the future, insisting the Liberal Democrats were on an "upward curve" while the party's competitors were on a "steady downward slide".

In an unscripted speech, delivered as he strode around the stage, Mr Kennedy also thanked all those who had generously supported him since he stood down in January after revealing he had a drink problem.

As delegates stood and cheered Mr Kennedy's entrance, he called out: "Good to see you. That's characteristically generous of you."

Mr Kennedy acknowledged this year had been the "best of times" and the "worst of times" and said he had been given innumerable media opportunities to speak about events.

"I took the view then that I would say nothing until here and now - speaking directly, in full view, of all of you and talking to you as a fellow Liberal Democrat."

He said it was his first conference speech as a backbencher and that when he stood down, he had vowed to be loyal to whoever followed.

"Ming Campbell knows that has been the case and you should know that is going to remain the case."

Thanking party supporters, family and friends for their support, he said: "I feel personally and politically optimistic about our future.

"It's for the good not just of our party but British politics as a whole that we should feel optimistic about our future."

Mr Kennedy recalled that the Liberal Democrats achieved their best result for 80 years in the last general election and said he was encouraged by having attracted one million more electors to vote for the party between 2001 and 2005. He contrasted this with a fall in support for Labour and the Conservatives over the same period.

"We have got, in the momentum of British politics, the force moving with us. We're the only party throughout that period that has been on the upward curve of support, while our principal competitors have been on a steady downward slide.

"We are the force for change in British politics. We can change the circumstances, the context, for the better around us without in any sense surrendering the fact that we are Liberal Democrats, we are staying Liberal Democrats and by God we are proud to be Liberal Democrats."

Mr Kennedy urged delegates to hold their nerve and stick to their principles, even when it was "unfashionable". In particular he said the Liberal Democrats' stance on Europe could become as important politically as their opposition to the war in Iraq three and half years ago. "As long as we stay strong to those principles then we have a good base for the future." He pointed to the adoption of proportional representation in Wales and Scotland as evidence of Liberal Democrat ideas shaping politics over the long term.

"We helped keep the flame alive in the 1980s. We have now got to keep the flame alive for more devolution of power across the regions," he added. "If we don't nobody else will and we will never achieve our goal of a proper federal United Kingdom political system."

He told delegates they "shouldn't rest" until Wales had its own full parliament and predicted current deputy first minister Nicol Stephen would become Scotland's first minister at the next election.

In a veiled reference to his own future he added: "Politics is where I want to stay and it's our politics I want to stay in."

He said the country as a whole must "get real" on the environment to tackle global warming, adding: "For all our futures, there's so much more to be done.

Sir Menzies was the first person on his feet at the start of the ovation for Mr Kennedy which lasted a minute before he left stage.

The leader praised the speech as "outstanding" adding: "A most accomplished speech as I would have expected.

"I enjoyed it as much as everyone else in the hall," he told the Press Association. Lib Dem president Simon Hughes added that it went "very well."

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