A friend of Michael Gove and a former Liberal Democrats, he is bidding for the Daily Telegraph and is an investor in GB News, which he hopes to see at the centre of such an election, if it happens.
His focus on leftish politics and local campaigning built the party into a potent force, but left it badly exposed to the dangers of coalition with the Conservatives.
Plus: shortlists for Middlesbrough South and Wakefield; and, new selections and nominations in key target seats across the country.
The halcyon days of Charles Kennedy’s leadership offer a clear temptation to revert to the party’s old opportunist ways. Will their new, more governmental habits stick?
They will be strange, edgy experiences: I can hardly wait.
The Prime Minister repeatedly condemned the official Opposition for being “enemies of aspiration”.
Also: ‘Self-financing’ Yes campaign bankrolled by the SNP; and Welsh Labour minister uninterested in ‘English Labour’ leadership contest.
David Cameron’s tribute to Charles Kennedy.
To many Parliamentarians, rejection by those to whom they have committed themselves has the force of marriage breakdown.
Exactly a decade after forming a government with the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats are languishing on the political fringes – where did it all go wrong?