Título: Charles Kennedy
Seção: 2005 General Election
Background: Kennedy was born in Inverness, the son of Mary and Ian. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic, and was educated at Lochaber High School in Fort William. He went on to study for a Master of Arts degree in Politics and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. At university he became politically active, joining the SDP, as well as the Dialectic Society.

Conteúdo: In his last general election as leader, in May 2005, he extended his strategy from the 2001 election targeting the seats held by the most senior and/or highly regarded Conservative MPs, dubbed a "decapitation" strategy. The expectation was that without these "key" figures, the Conservatives would be discredited as the official opposition allowing Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats to claim that they were the "effective opposition". At the same time they also hoped to capture marginal Labour seats attracting (particularly Muslim) Labour voters who were dissatisfied because of the invasion of Iraq which Kennedy's party had opposed. They had succeeded with this tactic in by-elections, taking Brent East and Leicester South from Labour.  Just before the election, it had been anticipated by the media and opinion polls that the Liberal Democrats could win up to 100 seats and place them close to the Conservatives in terms of seats as well as votes. They won 62 seats (22.1% of the vote), their greatest number of seats since 1923 but significantly less than most observers had expected the party to win.  They made a net loss of seats to the Conservatives, only managing to win three seats from them (Solihull, Taunton and Westmorland and Lonsdale) with their biggest "scalp" being that of the Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins. They failed to unseat leading Conservatives such as the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Oliver Letwin, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, Shadow Secretary of 

user: What did he try

assistant: In his last general election as leader, in May 2005,

user: What was his strategy

assistant: election targeting the seats held by the most senior and/or highly regarded Conservative MPs, dubbed a "decapitation" strategy.

user: Waht did this do

assistant: the Conservatives would be discredited as the official opposition allowing Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats to claim that they were the "effective opposition

user: Did this work out the way he wanted

assistant: At the same time they also hoped to capture marginal Labour seats attracting (particularly Muslim) Labour voters who were dissatisfied because of the invasion of Iraq

user: Waht did this do

assistant: They had succeeded with this tactic in by-elections, taking Brent East and Leicester South from Labour.

user: What did the election review

assistant: Liberal Democrats could win up to 100 seats and place them close to the Conservatives in terms of seats as well as votes.

user: How many seats did they win

assistant: They won 62 seats (22.1% of the vote), their greatest number of seats since 1923 but significantly less than most observers had expected the party to win.

user: Why was this bad

assistant: They made a net loss of seats to the Conservatives, only managing to win three seats from them