Lynne Featherstone on Kennedy's assassination

Lynne writes candidly about her experience of Charles Kennedy's leadership:

When I arrived in Parliament as a new MP in May I have to say that I was shocked by the scale of the leadership problems. I was aware that Charles was brilliant at times - but then seemed to disappear and not truly have the hunger that is needed to drive a party forward.

Some Lib Dem bloggers have been critical of the parliamentary party's recent actions. Yet, faced with a leader who was not functioning properly but refused to put down a motion of confidence or stand down, what option did they have? Things were bound to end messily.