Britain: Charles Kennedy has backed calls for a contest involving party members to determine his successor as leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats.
Mr Kennedy, who was forced to quit the leadership on Saturday, made his intervention amid calls from some quarters for an uncontested "coronation" in favour of early front-runner Menzies Campbell.
The likelihood of a contest increased last night as another potential candidate, Mark Oaten, said he was "moving to the view that the membership should be involved".
Confirming that many of more than 70,000 members had been left feeling "bruised" by the events leading to Mr Kennedy's downfall, Mr Oaten declined to declare his hand while observing: "I think they probably want some kind of election."
At the same time, Sir Menzies's potentially most serious challenger, party president Simon Hughes, said his role in helping determine the timetable for any leadership contest prevented him declaring his intentions until after today's meeting of the party's federal executive.
However, he told the BBC Radio 4's World This Weekend programme he did not think a coronation "the ideal solution" and said a leadership contest would allow a necessary debate about the party's future direction.
In the bitter aftermath of the unprecedented parliamentary revolt which followed Mr Kennedy's declared intention to seek re-election, Mr Hughes said there was "considerable anger" among activists at what had happened.
While the challenge to Mr Kennedy finally went public after his admission of a drinking problem on Thursday, Mr Hughes told the BBC: "It was clearly the case that some people began to organise leadership contests last year when Charles was very clearly still in harness."
However, the Bermondsey MP insisted he was "absolutely not" referring to Sir Menzies, who had failed to speak in Mr Kennedy's defence as the leadership crisis gathered force over the Christmas period.
As deputy leader, Sir Menzies assumed Mr Kennedy's responsibilities on an interim basis on Saturday and immediately confirmed he would stand in any contest.
He won big-name backing yesterday from former party leader Sir David Steel and the party's former leader in the Lords, Baroness Shirley Williams.
Significantly, Sir Menzies was also endorsed by David Laws MP, a leading light on the party's economic liberal wing, which has been attracting the interest of the new Conservative leadership.
Mr Laws said he believed Sir Menzies could provide "unity of purpose" by developing policy based on liberal values combining economic and social liberalism.
However, the likely resistance of grassroots members favouring the left-inclined Mr Hughes was signalled by Charles Holmes, chair of the parliamentary party, who said the members would not understand if there was not a contest.
He also noted that Mr Hughes was highly popular among activists, who had elected him party president just 18 months ago.
As Mr Kennedy's father Ian (79) attacked "the plotters" who forced his son out, Baroness Williams insisted the main protagonists - Sir Menzies, Mr Hughes and Mr Oaten - had all "behaved remarkably well" throughout an affair.
Election strategist Tim Razzall warned however that it would damage the party, at least in the short-term.
Disagreeing with this, Baroness Williams suggested rather that "people close to Charles" had not alerted him early enough to the need to reduce his drinking.
However, echoing Mr Hughes's charge, Mr Kennedy's father told the Mail on Sunday: "This has nothing to do with drink or my son's leadership. This is to do with a bunch of political plotters who wanted him out regardless of anything.
"None of them had the courage to put their names forward when he declared the leadership election because they didn't want to give him a chance. They wanted him out despite everything he has done for the party."
Mr Kennedy himself offered no complaint in a graceful statement on Saturday acknowledging that support among party activists was not replicated within the parliamentary party at Westminster.
In a tribute yesterday, Tony Blair said he felt "very sorry" for Mr Kennedy:
"He had, and has, a tremendous instinctive feel for where people are.
"He was always very easy and good to work with, someone who I think had a lot of integrity and I feel very sorry for him in his present position."