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Charles Kennedy is a British politician and leader of the Liberal Democrats. Liberal
Democrats is the third largest political party in United Kingdom. he entered in
to politics in 1983. he became the leader of Liberal Democrats in 1999.
Charles Kennedy born in Inverness on November 25, 1959. He started his education
at Lochaber High School. He completed his masters in Politics and Philosophy at
the University of Glasgow. During these days, he actively participated in university
political activities. He was elected president of the Glasgow University Union
and won the British Observer Mace university debating award. During the same time,
he joined the Glasgow University Labour Club. After completing his education,
he joined BBC Highland as a journalist. While working at BBC, he received a Fulbright
Fellowship allowing him to carry out research at Indiana University in the United
States. While studying in America, he received the nomination by SDP for the Scottish
seat of Ross, Cromarty & Skye. In this way, he joined the Social Democratic
Party(SDP). He won his seat in 1983 and got the honour of becoming the younger
member Parliament He retained his seat for four subsequent general elections.
In 1988, SDP merged with Liberal party. So he became the member of Liberal Democrats.
On August 9, 1999 he was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats after the retirement
of Paddy Ashdown. In July 2002 Charles Kennedy married Sarah Gurling.
Charles Kennedy has become a well-known and popular leader of British politics.
Different surveys and opinion polls have shown him to be positively regarded as
a party leader and potential Prime Minister by a significant fraction of the British
electorate. I belive that together we can continue to change the face of politics in Britain. Because the rise of Liberal Britain is not just about what is happening in Westminster.
It's about the way Britain is changing and how we promote the liberal values that are in tune with the way people now think and feel.
We champion the individual and the community over the vested interests of the state. We defend human rights and fundamental civil liberties. Our innate sense of fairness means that we are committed to social justice - and that means we believe in reforming taxation - not higher taxes but fairer taxes with people paying their fair share - and getting rid of wasteful spending so we can concentrate on things people really want.
That why we stand for quality public services - free and available locally in the community. We believe that environmentalism is not an optional add on but crucial if we are going to protect our children from the worst effects of climate change. And we want Britain to be respected around the world - which means we have to respect international law as the best way to preserve our security - and to be active and supportive participants in the United Nations, the European Union and the Commonwealth.
Up and down the country, it is Liberal Democrats in power that are making the difference in local communities. We run big cities like Liverpool, Newcastle, Cambridge and York. We run County Councils like Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. London boroughs like Islington and Richmond upon Thames. We have MPs in almost every major city - Manchester, Leeds, London, Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh. And when you look at our record in Government in Scotland it demonstrates how successful we are at implementing our policies. Policies that spring from our liberal values.
We represent a change to the status quo. An end to the comfortable two party system. We threaten directly Labour's arrogance in power. People have every right to feel cheated by a system in which 4 out of 5 eligible voters did not vote Labour, yet the system delivered a majority Labour Government. This Prime Minister has got to realise - he may have a working majority, but he cannot claim any moral mandate.
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