That’s something I always hoped I wouldn’t have to write.
I was woken up a few minutes ago by my phone buzzing. “I just want to send you my condolences” said the message from an old friend. That made me sit up pretty sharpish. It didn’t take long to find out what she meant. If you’re reading this and feeling slightly disorientated and wondering what on earth is going on, the BBC has the facts:
Mr Kennedy’s family said in a statement: “It is with great sadness, and an enormous sense of shock, that we announce the death of Charles Kennedy.
“We are obviously devastated at the loss. Charles was a fine man, a talented politician, and a loving father to his young son.”
I’m sitting here feeling, like most of you will be, shocked, raw and numb. This is a guy whose warmth, wit and wisdom was never more needed. I really don’t like the thought of a world without him in it.
From that day in 1983 when his election in the next constituency showed me that there was a place for young people in politics to his brave decision to oppose the Iraq War to the heartbreaking grace of his concession speech last month, he has been an example to follow.
We thought that election night was the saddest we’d feel this year. It didn’t come close.
Add your thoughts in the comments. This is a day for us all to be there for each other.
I’ll start a separate thread for tributes, soon. There will be more than one. But we won’t be doing anything else today.
Our thoughts are with all those close to Charles, particularly his young son.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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82 Comments
I’m not a Lib Dem supporter but I was always impressed by Charles Kennedy’s integrity, communication skills and way of treating all people as equals. This is very sad news and my thoughts are with all those who loved him.
Another leading Liberal gone before his/her time.
Sorry that all I can say at present. Such sad news.
A well respected man and politician.
Charles was a great politician, a great leader and a great man. He will be greatly missed. My condolences to his family. Very sad day.
A person of great integrity. A true leader and statesman.
This is tragic. He was a great parliamentarian and a successful leader. Politics is diminished by his passing.
Today we have lost a man of integrity,wit charm and principle. I am so sad and numbed by his death. My thoughts are with his family . May he rest in peace we shall never see his like again.
In tears. We will see few greater people than Charles Kennedy.
Gutted to hear this very sad news. The best Liberal (Democrat) leader in my lifetime, who’s principled stand against Iraq has been shown to be right with the passage of time.
Very sad news. He seemed such a decent man. Condolences, most sincerely meant, to his family and friends.
Genuine shock and sadness this morning at the news about Charles. A truly warm open generous human being. Heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. Our movement has lost one of its greatest and most successful brothers and advocates.
Talking with an old Lib Dem friend about our 40 years in liberalism. Charles featured in our conversation as we’d both known him from before he was elected in ’83. These have been difficult weeks for us all but this morning’s news is simply the worst. As a Party we have our internal differences and arguments with our political opponents. But at moments like this we do well do well to heed our common humanity and concern for one another. Let’s remember our courageous and very human former Leader who inspired much affection and respect from far beyond our Party as the coming hours will show. Above all let us wrap those closest to Charles in our love.
Terrible news taken far, far too young….
A good man and a great leader.
Very sad news. He was a good man.
Like many Lib Dems I have pleasant personal memories of Charles, our Leader throughout the period of the two elections I stood as a candidate – one of the most inspiring of our leaders. But he was always a hero to our dear son, Graham, who actually wrote a student dissertation based on what he called Charles’s quiet revolution. Our family’s thoughts go out to Charles’s family at this dreadfully sad time, and I hope the fact that so many others will be feeling so sad at the same time, will in some way bring a shared comfort.
Shocking news. My thoughts are with Charles and his family.
Devastated!
Could have been one of the greats and I never lost my respect or affection for him
Condolences to his family and friends
Is it just me or is politics losing its heart and soul at the moment? I feel disconnected and disinterested at the moment. This just makes me look at the current Government and I don’t see anyone of this mans calibre amongst them
Awful news to wake up to. I got to know Charles mainly on the Policy Committee; the same in private Lib Dem meetings as he was on the telly. A big change from Paddy’s fight to the death on every issue – bringing people together but passionate on the issues he really cared about. And excellent at shutting people up kindly when they were blathering on.
He also had a keen eye for the Lib Dem habit of setting up National Institutes for Well-Meaning Interference. Nobody else on the FPC was ever so good at puncturing pompous proposals, rolling his eyes at yet another institution: “No more capital letters, please!”
People will inevitably remember Charles’ leadership against the Iraq War, but we should also remember that it *wasn’t* a populist move – it was initially a very unpopular and vilified decision for which we suffered in the polls before being proved right.
Looking forward, Charles will be a huge loss in forthcoming referendum. Our most brilliant and committed pro-European. As well as for his family, and our wider Lib Dem family, both bereaved, it’s tragic to lose his voice when he’s so needed.
Stick on some David Bowie to remember him.
As politicians go he was among the best of them. Very sad news indeed.
This is the saddest news ever – he was our Kennedy for our generation and this is the day the music stopped. He will be seen as our greatest leader taken from us too young . Like so many today will be a struggle. Thoughts to his family but he was a much loved figure by the whole country not just the party. He put principle before politics.
Such a sad loss. Just awful news to wake up to.
This is really hard to believe. I’m shocked. Condolences to his friends and family.
He will be sorely missed, his passion for what he believed has never been needed more than now. It’s down to us now, those who understood that passion, to keep it going.
It was watching him speak on television when I was young that sparked my interest in politics. Long before others my age I was counting down to when I would be old enough to vote, and was so excited to turn 18 and have my chance to participate in such a big and important event.
He was always level-headed, passionate yet thoughtful, and razor sharp. I respected him and his party, agreeing with his thoughts nearly always. He is probably part of the reason I have been a supporter of the Lib Dems since before I was old enough to vote. Something about him, his ideas and the way he presented them just resonated deeply.
I audibly gasped on reading the news this morning on my way to work, this is a sad day and my thoughts go out to his family and friends who must be in great shock.
Goodbye Charles, thank you.
Heard the news 2 hours ago, just after it broke. So sad. Had me near to tears.
55. Too soon and still had plenty to give to the party and country. And the same age as me.
RIP Charles.
Farewell to a true Liberal.
We’ve lost a good, honest, thoughtful and decent man today. Politics, and the country, will be poorer for having lost him. He was the first political leader I ever really listened to as a teenager and his courage in standing up to the establishment on Iraq will not be forgotten.
Thank you, Charles. We will miss you terribly. I will miss you.
Although I had never met him, news of his death left me with a pit in my stomach. Awful news. My condolences to his family and many friends.
A tragedy for the family who have already had to bear the loss of Charles’ father at the start of the election campaign. We have lost one of the most articulate and charismatic politicians of our age and a real campaigning highlander. Words are not enough just now.
Desperately sad news. Not just a nice guy, but a strong one too.
Tears are pouring down my face. We have lost a great man.
I hope that he read the supportive words many of us wrote on Lib Dem Voice and was warmed by them. Some of us never lost faith in him. When Charles spoke, he brought the bright light of humanity into our lives.
I hope his family and particularly his son grow up realising how much he meant to so many, people that he had never even met.
Very, very sad.
Such sad news. I remember his wit, charm and humanity from SDP days at the GUU in the early 80s. Have watched him rise and fulfill all that potential. Can’t really believe that both Charles and John Morrison are now gone. My thoughts go out to his family and close friends.
Stunned beyond words! My condolences to his family, friends and all those who worked closely with him.
So very hard to take in. I saw Charles give a lecture in Liverpool in the run up to the Scottish referendum He spoke so well (in fact one of the Lib Dems there cheekily asked him to be leader again).
Paula, we covered that same lecture on here – it was such a good one. He just talked good sense in a terribly polarised debate.
Grey news for a grey morning. I’m so sad to hear of the untimely death of Charles Kennedy. He was elected to parliament the same year that I first got involved with politics, and I have always admired his passion, dedication and integrity. He will be greatly missed, of course, by his friends and family, but also by the wider liberal ‘family’, people like me who didn’t know him personally, but felt a connection to him nonetheless. My sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends.
Such sad news to wake up to. He was a terrific leader who engaged with so many, yet was taken so early. We have not just lost a great Liberal Democrat, or a great politician, but a great man.
Very sad.
Canvassing when Charles was leader I found respect for him from all shades of political opinion. We have lost that and our greatest tribute to Charles would be to rebuild that respect.
A wonderful, thoroughly decent human being and Liberal. Charlie’s humanity shone through even when addressing his own demons. Few of us can claim that and the world we be the poorer without him.
Terrible news. Sincerity and humanity made him a great leader.
I keep thinking of that great phrase he used once when explaining his identity and his internationalism. With a typical ‘no big deal’ shrug, he said, “I am a Highlander, a Scot, proudly British, and European. I’m proud of all four of these things, and I don’t see why I should have to choose between them or delete any of them.”
I used that phrase so many times last year when talking to people in the Scottish referendum, and I will use it again in the European referendum. God knows we’ll miss him a great deal then.
Absolutely appalling news about a man who even when not at his best not only connected with the public in an exceptionally rare way but in politics did his best to do the right thing (not least by appointing to the House of Lords campaigners like Tony Greaves and Jenny Tonge who lesser leaders would never have honoured). Despite huge pressure on him not to do so, his stand with the people over Iraq should never be forgotten.
Like Alex, I mostly encountered Charles over the years across the table at meetings of the Federal Policy Committee. Very rarely angry, he once told of his despair at his advisors telling him he needed to be angry and shouty in key platform speeches. He just felt incapable of doing it. Although he came to us from the SDP, he was an instinctive Liberal and our most successful in communicating Liberalism to the wider electorate.
He was, like all humans flawed but absolutely, in his own words, “a fully paid-up member of the human race”. The two things that motivated him above all else – his beautiful constituency and the European cause – should have seen him back at centre stage, making a significant contribution. Politics and all of us who knew him will be the poorer for us not have the benefit of that humanity in those battles to come.
My last conversation with him was at Glasgow around the fringes of the press office, over tea in a polystyrene cup, waiting to be interviewed. My last words to him were, I think: “It’s great to have you back”. How wrong I was.
Such terrible news to be woken up to and such a great loss to an already battered Liberalism. He will be such a loss to the Euro referendum Yes campaign too. Told our younger daughter, currently on a cycling tour, who still remembered what a kind and friendly man he seemed to her aged 13 when we met him in a lift at the Harrogate spring conference in 2005. RIP
Not what I wanted to wake up to today. It’s a dark day to be a liberal everywhere.
The best tribute will be to live up to his ideals.
As a Conservative I found Charles Kennedy to be the most effective Liberal Democrat leader we ever faced. He was a genuine, authentic politician who always spoke out for what he believed in, no matter the political difficulty. And he connected to the public in a way so few do.
The greatest Highlander of his generation.
RIP.
A really sad day, our thoughts are with all who knew and loved you. You were a rare and unique man in the world of politics, Honest, Decent and Respected. We are all richer for having witnessed you at your finest and so much poorer for the loss of your talent.
What I wrote on Charles’ last article for LDV, so sad to re-read them.
ATF 9th May ’15 – 2:11pm
Charles,
Thank-you for all you have done for the Liberal movement. I was 18 when the Iraq war began and your leadership has helped make me what I am; a life-long Liberal.
Your kind words to Nick are a futher mark of your decency and are a great credit to you.
I sincerely hope that, with time for rest, that you will be soon back fighting for us – whether it may be at Holyrood or Westminster.
Shocking. A very sad day.
The best leader this party has ever seen.
A kind, compassionate, principled man who did not seek power for the sake of it, rather, to help others.
My heart sank and I felt sick upon hearing the news. Of course Charles was not perfect, he had his demons, but don’t we all? I think his struggle with alcoholism made him all that more human. In an age where politics is basically a PR exercise, where corporate lobbyists mean more to MPs than constituents, when politics seems nothing more than a personality contest, Charles is needed more than ever. This country is all the more poorer without his influence.
I will miss him. I will miss his compassion and the humanity he bought to politics. We may never see the likes of him again. We’ve lost a good man.
Actually, scratch that final line.
We haven’t lost a good man. We’ve lost a great man.
From an ex Lib Dem member I want to take a second to offer you all, and friends of Charles’ my condolences. I was not a member during his leadership but always viewed Charles as a respectable and passionate politician. I had huge respect for him and regardless of some of his views (especially regarding the EU as I am now a member of UKIP) I always saw his as a true and principled politican. Charles’ passing will be a great loss and my thoughts will be with you all today. R.I.P.
Really saddening news . If there is a song for us today it must surely be American Pie:
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried….
…. But something touched me deep inside…
I am Japanese. This awful news arrived via internet , just like his remarkable speech at the Hyde Park anti-war rally twelve years ago did. At the time his words, along with many others’, made us feel strong here in Japan, where the political leaders would never say no to the US’s geopolitical idea/strategy/plan. Charles’s words of reason and wisdom gave us hope, even though we are never to vote in the UK elections. This is how people around the world connected nowadays. Though he had never heard about us, I’m sure he was aware of the human connection around the world, which is fundamentally liberal. I’m still too shocked to writer properly. This doesn’t make sense.
Please let me extend my condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Kennedy.
I believed in him in a way I’ve never been able to believe in any other politician, he constantly inspired me to want to try to make the world a more liberal place. Can’t stop crying, never felt so saddened by the death of a politician; he was and always will be my political hero.
Sad news. His fusion of social democratic policy with liberal principle took the party to new heights and his personal courage set him apart. Unfortunately, by the time I was old enough to vote, his leadership had ended. But my first general election vote was cast for the party of Charles Kennedy.
All too often the appellation “honourable” that is attached to Westminster MPs is done so in a bitterly ironic way. Not so in the case of Charles Kennedy. There is no-one for whom that title was more entirely appropriate.
He was someone I was proud to have as a party leader when I was a member of the Liberal Democrats and more recently, when we found ourselves on opposite sides of the independence debate, he was the most respected of opponents.
He was very much a man of principle and stands in contrast to the products of machine politics that all too often inhabit all our political parties. The two most salient times being, firstly, when he led his party into opposition to the Second Gulf War at a time when it was far from clear that it would be popular, quite the opposite appeared to be the case from the press coverage of the time. History was to prove him right on that. Secondly when he refused to support going into coalition with the Tories in 2010. Whatever your own views on these issues, he had the courage to do what he himself believed was right at the time rather than what would make him popular even if it meant as in the latter case that he would stand alone among his colleagues and that itself is deserving of respect.
I do not know who you will choose as your next leader, but if they follow the example set by Charles Kennedy when he was at his best, they will not go far wrong.
So very sorry to hear such sad news.
Charles Kennedy was a man I admired because of his deeply held and reasoned principles.
A huge loss to his family, his party and to UK politics.
Like everyone I was devastated to wake up to this terrible news. I had the privilege and pleasure of knowing and working with Charles over a lot of years but particularly when I was a GLA member. I loved the way he rolled my name ‘Louise ‘ around his tongue. Lots of us have our own funny stories about encounters with Charles, I think my favourite one is introducing him to then GLA candidate Siobhan Vitelli at a London Region event I had helped organise. Unfortunately both Siobhan’s hands were covered in mayonnaise from the prawn sandwich she was enjoying, which made shaking her hand rather difficult! I also remember defending his well talked about problems as a health issue rather than anything else, sadly I have seen many such struggles in my professional and personal life. Sleep well sweet prince.
Just really sad.
Firstly, this is a human tragedy – death at 55! – which recalls the deaths of John Smith, Mo Mowlam and Robin Cook, among politicians of what I guess I have come to regard as the same ‘era’, and its clear that loads of people from the media, politics, etc felt a connection to this man, whether or not they were opposing him or critiquing him.
Secondly it serves to underline the sense of being ‘without a map’ for the party at the moment – disconnected from our recent history, unsure of our narrative, seeming unconvinced about who – rather than what – we are for.
In the moment of the Iraq war controversy, Charles Kennedy managed to be the only Liberal Democrat leader of our recent times who turned principled politics into a genuinely popular politics, and was able to say to both the two main parties’ leaderships – you are both wrong, and here’s why – in a way that emotionally conected.
For those of us who – whether we were in or out of the party at that time – signed up to the idea put about by Roy Jenkins that a realignment of the left in British politics was coming, inevitably, inexorably, in one form or another. Charles Kennedy’s leadership – which at the time was often embattled and snarled about and was in hindsight ‘lucky’ in the sense that the Tory incoherence and rightward lurch of the Hague-IDS-Howard years was at its height, whilst Blair was slowly losing his mojo and becoming more manical – now looks like a little like lost golden age, when it really felt like it was the start of something special.
The worst and most dreadful of news. My sympathy to his family, and to the wider community of Scottish Liberal Democrats fighting back.
A terribly sad loss. Charles Kennedy always seemed a solidly decent man, trying to do the right thing for the right reasons, with unfailing good humour. I don’t think you can ask more of anyone than that. RIP.
My thoughts especially to his son, who now has to grow up without the love and example of his father. RIP.
So saddened by this news. It’s entirely fitting, and rather moving, that all the news channels are full of tributes to him, all day long. He was clearly a fine man and well-respected across the political spectrum and also by apolitical folks.
So sad. A great man and a great loss.
I’m not a Lib Dem but admired Charles enormously and said so here many times. In an era where politicians are expected to be “performers” he stood out for his calm, eloquent, and transparently decent way of speaking, which is what impressed me most about him. My condolences to all who cared about him.
I was very sorry to hear the sad news this morning, a great Liberal who left us too soon. My I offer my condolences to his family and friends.
As a Labour Party member, I just wanted to say that Charles Kennedy was one of the finest politicians of the first half of the ‘noughties’. His principled stand on Iraq and his unstinting passion for a fairer society, meant he was one of the only Lib Dems I was sorry to see lose his seat on 8th May. Truly a man for all seasons.
Charles Kennedy was a phenomenal politician, a real inspiration. RIP.
Terrible news. I was very much a Kennedy LibDem. It was his integrity, humanity, and the political instincts and principles which stemmed from that fundamental decency, which inspired me to move from passive supporter to activist and even a local candidate. He was a good man and in my view the best leader the party has had. His premature death is a tragedy.
Devastatingly sad news. He inspired me and many like me – I wouldn’t be a member or councillor if it wasn’t for Charles. The eloquence of so many comments and memories today are a fine tribute. RIP
I never met Charles Kennedy, but his words at defining points in my life helped me understand more about my own political views. When someone asked me what I thought about an issue, I was able to point at him and say “what he thinks” – and in many ways, this still holds true.
There was a golden period from about 2002 where he got every big decision right – when the Iraq war was being debated, he opposed it. When tuition fees were introduced, he opposed them*. And when the government tried to introduce 90 day detention without charge, he was at the front, campaigning against it and demanding parliament respect the rule of law.
Since then, I’ve met people who worked with him, and for him, and they all say that he was as kind and generous in private as he was in public – not something you hear about every figure in public life. There are plenty of publicly popular MPs who give their staff hell. Charles was not a hypocrite – in many ways, he was a shining example of a fundamentally decent human being.
The planet is worse off without him. I am desperately sad.
—
* I want to make clear that I am arguing that this was the right position at the time, and I’m not passing comment on later decisions. This is not the place to do that.
I woke up this morning to the absolutely shattering news of the death of Charles Kennedy. A very human man who led us to our most successful general election result in 80 years. A man who spoke out against Blair’s illegal war in Iraq. A man who would have made a great leader for the YES campaign in the EU referendum. He had a way with him that meant people of all parties and none listened. A mixture of humour, principles and humility. He came to speak at a dinner in Mid Beds when I was PPC and before he was Leader. Dinner guests had a real treat. A blazing star has left my politics. Absolutely the best thing I can do in Charles’ memory is to make sure the flickering flame of liberalism gets stronger and stronger. My deep condolences go out to his family and friends. A terrible time for them. Our sorrow is nothing to that they are suffering.
Steve Bell, not known for subtlety and sensitivity, has crafted the most beautiful cartoon tribute in the Guardian. It’s worth a look.
So sad. And that mournful sense of what might have been. So sad.
This country has lost a great son taken too young He was a good human being and politics will not see his like again. He stood up for what he believed in and at great cost to his own wellbeing A caring and compassionate human being. My condolences to his family. But I hope that the esteem which he was held in will be remembered and in time may bring a small measure of comfort to those closest to him Sleep well Bonnie Lad
BBC TV “Have I got news for you” showed two clips of Char;es Kennedy on Friday 5 June 2015, which will be available on the BBC I-Player for 30 days.
http://www.belltoons.co.uk/hotoffpress
“Julian Critchley 2nd Jun ’15 – 9:30pm
Terrible news. I was very much a Kennedy LibDem. It was his integrity, humanity, and the political instincts and principles which stemmed from that fundamental decency, which inspired me to move from passive supporter to activist and even a local candidate. He was a good man and in my view the best leader the party has had. His premature death is a tragedy.”
The late Tory MP for Aldershot had a similar name and was part of Critch, Mitch and Titch. Any relation?