page_title: 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election
section_title: Opening of the campaign
hierarchical_section_title: 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election / Opening of the campaign
caption_attribution_description: Simon Hughes MP addressing a Liberal Democrat conference in the ACC, Liverpool
context_page_description: In the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Sir Menzies Campbell was elected to succeed Charles Kennedy as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom.
  On 5 January 2006, following a period of heavy speculation about both his leadership and his personal life, party leader Charles Kennedy called for a leadership contest to allow party members to decide if his leadership should continue. On 7 January 2006, following public pressure from many prominent Liberal Democrats to stand down, including twenty-five Members of Parliament who publicly announced they would refuse to serve on the party's frontbench if he did not stand aside, Kennedy announced that he would not be standing in the leadership election, resigning as party leader with immediate effect.
  Four candidates declared their intention to stand: Campbell, then interim leader; home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten; the party's President, Simon Hughes; and treasury spokesman Chris Huhne. Oaten garnered little support from colleagues and withdrew from the contest, confessing two days later to a sexual relationship with a male prostitute.
context_section_description: When Kennedy called the election, no one else declared themselves as candidates, with several possible contenders explicitly saying they would not stand against him. However, within an hour of Kennedy's resignation and withdrawal from the contest, Menzies Campbell declared his intention to stand and rapidly garnered support from party heavyweights. Early speculation surrounded the positions of the two other favourites, Simon Hughes and Mark Oaten, both of whom had initially declined to say whether they would enter the contest. Most of the other candidates given serious consideration by the media said they were not standing. John Hemming, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, said he was contemplating standing to prevent a "coronation", but was considered a rank outsider – he later dropped out and backed Campbell.
  After Kennedy's withdrawal, there was also speculation as to whether the Parliamentary party would seek a single candidate to avoid a contest, an option initially mooted by Mark Oaten, or whether a leadership campaign would be a good thing for the party. Campbell was soon seen as the most likely person to be a unity candidate.
  Although Kennedy had decried in his resignation speech the simplification of debates within the party as being solely between left and right, each candidate was seen to draw support from one area of the party. Hughes was identified with the left of the party and was described as being more popular with activists than his fellow MPs. Oaten was seen to be on the right of the party, associated with the Orange Book group. Campbell was seen as more centrist, but identified by those on the right as being sympathetic to them; he was the bookmakers' favourite on the evening of 7 January and remained in pole position for most of the contest. Being older, Campbell was seen as a possible shorter-term leader who would vacate the post after the next General Election, which would suit the leadership ambitions of some younger and newer members of the Parliamentary party.
  The election of David Cameron as leader of the Conservatives focused questions on Campbell's age: old enough to be Cameron's father, was he too old for modern politics or did his seniority give him an advantage, a welcome contrast to Cameron? Another issue early in the campaign was the extent to which the potential candidates had conspired to bring about Kennedy's downfall.
  Campbell's backers stressed his authority, his experience and how respected he was even beyond the party. He was described as a unity candidate who could lead the party out of a troubled period. His detractors pointed out that his experience was largely in foreign policy and described him as an unknown when it came to domestic issues. The implication was that he would lead the party in a more market liberal direction, especially given that his support included prominent figures on the right of the party like David Laws and Nick Clegg. His detractors also questioned whether he was sufficiently supportive of Kennedy prior to the resignation. Hughes's supporters also stressed his Parliamentary experience (he had been an MP longer than Campbell), charisma and his very large majority (over Lembit Öpik) in the poll of party members for the post of President two years previously. In policy terms, Hughes's opposition to any role for the market in health and education was cited. Oaten was also seen to be to the right and talked of modernising the party. He attacked the "nanny state" instincts of the Labour government. However, the bookmakers favoured Campbell and Hughes over him. Oaten subsequently withdrew having gained minimal support amongst MPs. Chris Huhne, an MP since 2005 but a Member of the European Parliament for six years prior to that, entered the contest last, stressing his green policies. He soon gathered support, overtaking Oaten in the betting markets.
  Subsequent to his withdrawal from the contest, it was revealed by a newspaper that Oaten had repeatedly visited a male prostitute. Oaten resigned his frontbench position.
  Hughes was also forced to admit previously having
caption: Simon Hughes, the party's president, also stood.
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