Charles Kennedy
Best known for:
Best known for being the former leader of the Liberal Democrat party.
Summary:
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, and a popular broadcaster, is a widely experienced speaker whose ability spans business and political seminars through to light-hearted after dinner speaking. Charles has been Liberal Democrat Spokesman on trade and industry, health and Europe; a Member of the Commons Select Committee on social services and on the televising of the House of Commons and led the party from 1999-2005.
Biography:
In 1983 Rt Hon Charles Kennedy was elected as MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, becoming the youngest MP of the time.
During his term in parliament he has acted as a spokesperson on issues ranging from the welfare state to Europe, agriculture and rural affairs. He has served on the All-Party Select Committee that introduced the televising of the chamber. He was the first SDP MP to back the merger with the Liberals after the 1987 general election, and moved a successful motion to this effect at the party conference that year.
Charles Kennedy was elected UK Party President, the equivalent of party chairman, in 1990, and served in that post until 1994. In August 1999 he was elected as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and he was appointed to the Privy Council in October 1999.
In his six years as Leader he took the Liberal Democrats from strength to strength in local and national politics, taking some fundamental and hugely difficult political decisions. He also took the Liberal Democrats to their most successful election performance for some 80 years when they returned 63 MPs in May 2005. He stood down as Leader of the Party in January 2006.
In September 2006 Charles Kennedy was elected as a Vice-President of Liberal International. In September 2007 Charles Kennedy unanimously elected President of the European Movement in Britain. He is a candidate to be Rector of Glasgow University.
He is the author of The Future of Politics (2001) and is presently researching a project on youth and minority issues, arising from his period (2007) as a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford.
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