The final results have been tallied in our old poll asking, ‘Of those MPs who’ve ruled themselves out of standing for the party leadership, who would you have voted for given the chance?’

Over 800 LDV readers answered, and in the end Charles Kennedy just nosed in front, edging out Julia Goldsworthy by five votes. And just 17 votes separated the next three impossibles, David Laws, Steve Webb and Vince Cable. Now imagine if they, plus Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne, had been standing…? That would have been a fascinating contest.

• Charles Kennedy: 18% (148)
• Julia Goldsworthy: 17% (143)
• David Laws: 14% (116)
• Steve Webb: 14% (113)
• Vince Cable: 12% (99)
• Lynne Featherstone: 9% (71)
• Ed Davey: 6% (49)
• Simon Hughes: 5% (42)
• Susan Kramer: 4% (29)
• John Hemming: 2% (18)
Total Votes : 828