Who will run? That will be the fascinating question which will be answered in the days ahead. Here’s some of the press speculation today:
Lib Dem leadership bids expected (BBC)
Charles Kennedy May Run For Leader Again (Glasgow Daily Record)
Two outsiders [Julia Goldsworthy & John Hemming] may run for Lib Dem leader (Daily Telegraph)
Huhne set to launch Lib Dem leadership challenge (Liverpool Daily Echo)
Please use the comments to highlight other stories we may have missed.
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The civil service impact statement for the Assisted Dying Bill could be very inaccurate (A retired medical doctor)
Lib Dems should say no to the UK acquiring tactical nuclear weapons (Simon McGrath)
Why I support the right to die with dignity; a Liberal case (Andrew Chandler)
Diary of a Returning Officer: Week 1 – the Regional Candidates Chair has called, and I’ve said yes… (Mark Valladares)
You can’t spend sovereignty, Mr. Farage (Jack Meredith)
12 opening scenes from Malcolm in the Middle
Reform drop council by-election candidate Irene Davidson
Cllr Neil Stevens (Reform) reported over election expense claims
Solar farms could be the saving of insects and birdlife
Katie Mansfield selected for Hampstead and Highgate
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates, next general election
Duke of Rutland is urged to sell 'trashed' grouse moor to the people of Sheffield
HERA - Harris Education and Recreation Association updates #dundeewestend
Lyell Yardarms 
Mick Scholes 
Dominic Dominic 
Andy Chandler 
26 Comments
That looks more like the Southern Daily Echo than either the Liverpool Echo or Liverpool Daily Post to me.
And what the hell is Jeffrey Archer doing on my screen?
a new website: http://www.nickclegg.com
No great surprises but good to see on the blocks
A rare appearence by Mr Fordham on LDV.
He must be scheming.
Well, last sarky post on the ‘leadership’ contest- it ends in December doesn’t it? Going to elect another turkey then?!
chris huhne used to work at the liverpool daily post and echo
It concerns me that Mark Littlewood is popping up all over the place as some kind of authority on political communications and libdem strategy. He was fired earlier this year for being utterly terrible as head of press office – he obviously thinks he’s got a prospect of getting a job back under a new leader. Meanwhile party comms machine is still recovering from his terrible time in post.
It always depresses me when people (exstaffer) use any opportunity to settle what are clearly old scores. Pathetic really.
The Western Morning News has Julia Goldsworthy everywhere,so has the rest of the Cornish Press. What coverage. She says she will not stand! The Cornwall Tories are shitting themselves. Hope she goes for Deputy and the cornish tories will shit themselves even more!
Steve Webb supporters have set up
Bloggers4Stevewebb
Of course people don’t “go for” deputy, the Leader appoints. It may be they don’t want to say who their deputy nomination would be, as it may cost them nominations. But as somebody said to me on facebook, it would be good if they did declare during the selection – offering a “ticket”, US style. Interesting then to see who offers some sort of balanced ticket (social liberal v economic liberal, male v female, would like to say white v ethnic minority but…)
In fact the Deputy Leadership is elected by MPs – indeed, very strictly speaking, they are the Deputy Leader of the party in the Commons, not of the Party as a whole.
Clearly a nomination from a Leader who had just won a leadership election would carry some weight, I would guess – but the last election for deputy leader, after Ming became Leader, was reasonably hotly contested.
11 – Indeed. Both Deputy Leader and Chief Whip are elected posts.
As is Chair of the Parliamentary Party – where in recent memory the leader’s candidate has been defeated.
Susan K has ruled herself out
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200710/44162143-3fcd-4803-84d9-778a90669d38.htm
Chris Huhne has now officially announced his candidacy: http://www.chris2win.org/
in a rather low key way i thought
Julia Goldsworthy has changed her Facebook status to read “Julia is NOT entering the leadership race!”
The BBC news website says that the following have rules themselves out: Simon Hughes, David Laws, Vincent Cable, Edward Davey, Susan Kramer.
Personally, I’m sorry that Susan isn’t standing, she would have made a good leadership candidate.
Julia is a canny girl. I watched with admiration how she handled the Ashley Crossley farce amongst the warring Conservatives in her constituency. One foot wrong and that situation could have worked against her. Ashley Crossley, allegedly, scuppered Candy Atherton’s chances by putting up Atherton’s researcher to bring charges against her even though it was technically too late for a Court case. Crossley’s thinking behind this, allegedly, was that Julia didn’t stand a chance of winning so scupper Atherton’s chances by embroiling her in scandal and then win himself. He never for one minute thought everybody would see through him like a pane of glass. Never mind what electoral calculus says. Julia will hold Camborne and Redruth with an increased majority. She has alot of friends working for her and they are not all Liberal Democrats! I’m really pleased she’s not standing for Leader its too soon. She needs to consolidate.
I agree with exstaffer. We have way too many useless ex-press office/leader’s office/comms directors happy to go to the press and do down the party.
I do want more than just Clegg v Huhne. Sad, if true, that Julia has ruled herself out.
Julia is enormously talented and certainly has the potential to be a great leader in the future.
At present she is right to concentrate on holding her redrawn seat.
Was today a campaign ‘launch’ as such, or just a statement? Last time round i recall each of the candidates declared and then had formal campaign ‘launches’ later.
Alice Miles in the Times today says that Nick Clegg is too nice and that we may need Chris Huhne, who is “mesmeringsly cold and hcramless, almost robotic” because “nasty may be what this party needs”.
PS heramless should read charmless
Hopefully the memories of the last contest will be sufficiently fresh in everyone’s minds that we’ll make our choices based on what the candidates put before us, rather than what some smart-a**ed columnists tell us to think 🙂
Perhaps we should have a constitutional amendment that when a vacancy occurs part way during a term of office the previous election is recounted 🙂
9 –
http://bloggers4steve.blogspot.com/
http://libdems4chris.wordpress.com/
– Where’s the site for bloggers supporting Nick Clegg?