Charles Kennedy
As a young MP in the 1980s
Tributes have poured in from across the country following the sudden death of former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy at the age of 55.
Police were called to his home in the Scottish town of Fort William yesterday falling a call to the ambulance. It is understood that the politician’s body was found in the house by a friend. The cause of his death is not yet known but police said it did not find the circumstances to be suspicious.
His death was announced “with great sadness, and an enormous sense of shock” in a statement by his family, who said they were “devastated”.
The statement continued: “Charles was a fine man, a talented politician and a loving father to his young son. We ask therefore that the privacy of his family is respected in the coming days,” said the family statement.
“There will be a post-mortem and we will issue a further statement when funeral arrangements are made.”
Mr Kennedy, MP in the Scottish Highlands for 32 years, was ousted as the SNP swept the country at last month’s general election.
He was divorced in 2010 from wife Sarah, with whom he has a 10-year-old son, Donald. The loss of his Westminster seat came after an election campaign during which Mr Kennedy was forced to take a break following the death of his 88-year-old father, Ian, in April.
One of his successors as Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, told Sky News: “In my view, Charles Kennedy on form, on a good day when he was feeling strong and happy, had more political talent in his little finger than the rest of us put together.
“That’s why everyone felt, still of course feels today, that it was so tragic to see someone with such huge gifts should also struggle, as many people do, with the demons that clearly beset him and the problems that he acknowledged he had with alcohol.”
His home in Scotland
Former Labour director of communications Alastair Campbell wrote in his blog that there were concerns for Mr Kennedy following the loss of his seat.
“We were all a bit worried about him after the election,” said Mr Campbell, who was a close friend of the former Lib Dem leader. “On the night the exit poll made it clear his safe seat was gone, ‘Is Charles OK?’ became an inquiry of a very different nature. Representing the people of Ross, Skye and Lochaber meant so much to him.”
He continued: “He said in some ways he was glad to be out of it. I am not totally sure I believed him, but he had plenty of ideas of how he would spend his time, how he would make a living, and, most important, how he would continue to contribute to political ideas and political life.”
“He was a very good friend. I just wish that we, his friends, had been able to help him more, and that he was still with us today, adding a bit of light to an increasingly gloomy political landscape.”
