Charles Kennedy

The Right Honourable Charles Kennedy
Kennedy in 2006
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
In office 9 August 1999 – 7 January 2006
Deputy	Menzies Campbell Alan Beith
President	The Baroness Maddock The Lord Dholakia Simon Hughes
Preceded by	Paddy Ashdown
Succeeded by	Menzies Campbell
Liberal Democrat Leader of the House of Commons
In office 1 May 1997 – 9 August 1999
Leader	Paddy Ashdown
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Alan Beith
President of the Liberal Democrats
In office 1 January 1991 – 31 December 1994
Leader	Paddy Ashdown
Preceded by	Ian Wrigglesworth
Succeeded by	Robert Maclennan
Member of Parliament for Ross, Skye and Lochaber Ross, Skye and Inverness West (1997–2005) Ross, Cromarty and Skye (1983–1997)
In office 9 June 1983 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Ian Blackford
Personal details
Born	Charles Peter Kennedy (1959-11-25)25 November 1959 Inverness, Scotland
Died	1 June 2015(2015-06-01) (aged 55) Fort William, Scotland
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrats (from 1988)
Other political affiliations	SDP (1981–1988) Labour (1974–1981)
Spouse	Sarah Gurling ​ ​ (m. 2002; div. 2010)​
Children	1
Alma mater	University of Glasgow Indiana University
Signature

Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015.

Kennedy was elected to the House of Commons in 1983, and after the Alliance parties merged, became president of the Liberal Democrats and, following the resignation of Paddy Ashdown in August 1999, leader of the Liberal Democrats. He led the party in the 2001 and 2005 general elections, increasing its number of seats in the House of Commons to their highest level since 1923, led his party's opposition to the Iraq War, and broadly positioned the party to the left of New Labour. A charismatic and affable speaker in public, he appeared extensively on television during his leadership.

During the latter stages of Kennedy's leadership, there was concern about both his leadership and his health. From December 2005, some within the party were openly questioning his position and calling for a leadership election. On 5 January 2006, he was informed that ITN would be reporting that he had received treatment for alcoholism; he pre-empted the broadcast by admitting that he had had treatment, and resigned as leader the following day after receiving no support within the parliamentary party. After Menzies Campbell succeeded him as leader, Kennedy remained in office as a backbench MP, where he voted against the formation of the Cameron–Clegg coalition. He died less than a month after losing his seat in the House of Commons in 2015.