Kennedy set for by-election test

As voters prepare to go the polls in the Cheadle by-election, Charles Kennedy is under pressure to retain the seat for the Liberal Democrats.

 

The party is defending a general election majority of 4,020 - an increase on the 33-vote majority Patsy Calton won the seat with in 2001.

 

Calton died of cancer last month, just weeks after defending her seat in the May general election.

 

After what some claim was a disappointing election result, Kennedy is facing some dissent within his party's ranks.

 

Donnachadh McCarthy, former deputy chairman of the party's federal executive, said: "There is a wide, wide-open door for a progressive centre-left party that is liberal and exciting and committed to the environment.

 

"Kennedy just sits there looking at the door swinging in the wind."

 

Veteran Lib Dem peer Lord Greaves also put the boot in, saying: "We had all expected to gain 10 or a dozen seats overall from the Conservatives.

 

"When it didn't happen, overall people were quite shocked."

 

Despite being warned about criticising the leadership, MP Alistair Carmichael said: "Does he have a wonderful grasp of what is the detail of policy? Probably not."

 

But he added that Kennedy was the right leader at the moment.

 

The by-election result will also be an indicator of how the Conservative vote is holding up following their general election defeat and drawn out leadership contest.

 

Both parties have swamped the area with big hitters in a bid to win a post-election fillip.