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Welcome to what is intended to be the first of many Ming Campbell podcasts. In the attached interview, former BBC and ITN political correspondent David Walter speaks to Ming Campbell about the last 7 days of the campaign. A transcript will follow shortly.

The Oxford Mail has a photograph of Chris Huhne taking part in a student demonstration in 1973. And very 1973 he looks too. This was the year when Ming Campbell still held the British 100 metres record and Simon Hughes was presumably following Iron Maiden around the country. Found via Recess "Cheeky" Monkey and Antonia's blog.

When the four leadership candidates appeared on the Sky News debate the other evening. Ming Campbell was ambushed by a question about his Jag. It happens that it was sent in by Rob Fenwick, a Lib Dem and Simon Hughes supporter. Rob's own blog gives a transcript of what happened: SKY: Let's talk about the environment, an important issue that Lib Dems certainly put at the centre of the ground. This question from Rob Fenwick: "Both Ming Campbell and Chris Huhne claim that the environment is of paramount importance. Chris Huhne owns a hybrid electric car, a ...

by Peter It's god to see that holding a leadership election has not stopped Liberal Democrats from holding the government to account. This is the story the BBC is running: Tony Blair is facing calls for a public inquiry into America's use of UK airports to transport terror suspects. The Liberal Democrats accused ministers of "crude" spin after a leaked memo advising them how to avoid questions on the subject from MPs was revealed.

by Peter It's good to see that holding a leadership election has not stopped Liberal Democrats from holding the government to account. This is the story the BBC is running: Tony Blair is facing calls for a public inquiry into America's use of UK airports to transport terror suspects. The Liberal Democrats accused ministers of "crude" spin after a leaked memo advising them how to avoid questions on the subject from MPs was revealed.

After this fiasco, where the paper I edit was shut down because we refused to remove something contravening Union policy, Reading University Students' Union Council* today passed a new Constitution and Regulations. Along with abolishing Student Council and placing more powers in the hands of fewer students (the number of student executive members has gone down from 12 to 9), they've also made

I have never bought the idea that Mark Oaten is a dangerous right-winger. The problem with his speech at the Meeting the Challenge hustings last Saturday was that it was almost content free. A politician who was unusually charismatic could have got away with all that talk of the 21st century. But Oaten never had a chance of embodying the future in the way the young Tony Blair did for the Labour Party. And James Graham has dealt pretty conclusively with the claims that Oaten is a great civil libertarian or the last Kennedy loyalist. The events of the past ...

The column centimetres dedicated to the dear departed leader have been, by and large, irritating and smug; varying between dull media navel-gazing and rather patheitc schadenfreude. I would launch into a whinge about how useless it is that hacks on the national papers haven't got a clue about the party and keep writing wildly inaccurate drivel about the leadership candidates, but that sort of cry-baby talk doesn't get us anywhere! And it makes them laugh at us. Ming's Millbank launch today was pretty smart, I'm optimistic he'll put in a good performance on Question Time tonight. Huhne has also impressed; ...

So far I have examined chapters 2 through 10 for a right-wing agenda. Laws' chapter on health was found guilty (community service I think), and Cable gets a not proven verdict. The other Orange Bookers, Davey, Clegg, Huhne, Kramer, Oaten, Webb and Holland, are acquitted. Marshall is acquitted on the pensions chapter but must also take responsibility for the introduction, and with Laws, chapter 1

Lawks! Within four hours of me posting my eight reasons for voting for Ming Campbell as leader, Pete Simpson posted 15 reasons in my comments box suggesting why I should think again. Rather than attempt to address them all by direct reply, let me canter through his list in a fresh posting: 1. Was nervous at PMQs and made a noticable mistake in his speech. Yes, he was nervous: it would be

We’ve just heard that Ming is going to be on Question Time tonight on BBC One at 10.35pm. David Dimbleby will be joined for the interactive debate by Chris Bryant MP, Alan Duncan MP, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, vice chair of the Respect Party Salma Yaqoob, and Sir Andrew Green of Migration Watch UK.

One thing which too many politicians - and aspiring politicians - forget all to often is that we play our roles on an ever changing stage we don't design. I have lately been getting into debates with Tories. I think it's fascinating to know what they think as Cameron attempts to resuscitate the corpse of their beloved party. Today's Tories fall into two camps, those who get it and those who clearly haven't grasped it yet. Labour spent years in the political wilderness because it didn't see that the landscape had shifted. People's priorities were different and ...

Cicero has yet to come to a final conclusion about the Liberal Democrat leadership contest. It is a shame that Mark Oaten was such an uninspiring figurehead for the so-called "right" of the party. There is a case for "tough liberalism", that is to say that not everyone gets prizes in our society, but Mark did not make such a case with particular conviction. He was also mistaken on the smoking issue- the reason for regulation of smokers is the damage that they do to others through secondary smoking, not the damage that they do to themselves which, higher healthcare ...

Sir Menzies Campbell has this afternoon launched his leadership campaign. Sir Menzies said he was impatient to see the Liberal Democrats take national power. Launching his campaign at a Westminster restaurant, Sir Menzies said "Under my leadership, the Liberal Democrats will not be making polite interjections from the sidelines: we will be hammering on the doors of power."

Mark Oaten has this afternoon withdrawn from the Liberal Democrat Leadership contest. I am not surprised by this news as I had heard various rumours about this, I was actually quite surprised he found seven MPs to actually nominate him in the first place. Mark said the other contenders all "had much more support" among MPs.

by Peter That was the message from the Guardian. They said Sir Menzies Campbell promised to be the Liberal Democrats' "bridge to the future" as he formally launched his leadership campaign. Flanked by Sarah Teather, the Lib Dems' local government spokeswoman, Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Baroness Shirley Williams, Sir Menzies said he wanted to lead a "strong, distinguished" party that would be "serious about politics". He also received the backing of Mark Oaten, who this afternoon withdrew from the leadership race after only one MP publicly backed him. But now they have amended ttheir story. Stephen Tall ...

The writ has been moved today for the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election following the death of Rachel Squire on 5 January. The election will take place on 9 February, in three weeks time. So plenty of time for Liberal Democrats to get here before they receive their ballot papers for the leadership election after 6 February. The result in may put the Liberal Democrats in second place in this

Oatbun is reportedly on the verge of pulling out. Although you may have heard it here or here first.

According to Mark Oaten’s campaign manager: “It was Mark’s declaration that he was going to stand that ensured there was a contest. The others came in after him. It was he that ensured there was a choice for the membership.” Yes, we know Oaten was first off the starting blocks. But then, he’d been planning the [...]

It appears that Channel 4 news are getting their Lib Dem MPs mixed up. Their news story about Mark Oaten quitting the leadership race says: Mr Oaten, who has only been an MP since May. Whoops that would be Chris Huhne then! Mark has of course won 4 elections to Westminster for Winchester; the first in 1997 by 2 votes, before taking the by-election with a 21,556 majority. Then of course

Local Strategic Partnerships Q: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) guidance and (b) advice the Learning and Skills Councils have issued as to who should chair local strategic partnerships.(John Hemming) A:The consultation paper "Local Strategic Partnerships: Shaping the Future" launched on 8 December by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister examines the

Greenpeace dumps beached whale on steps of Japanese Embassy in Berlin.

I think Mark Oaten has made the right decision in pulling out. He has a very positive contribution to make to the Liberal Democrats and I hope that whoever becomes leader will put his abilities to good use. While it has seemed at times over the last few days that the attack dogs of the Lib Dem blogatariat were scenting Mark's blood, the initial responses on Lib Dem Aggregated Blogs to his withdrawal from the race, have in general been generous and constructive.

There is a humane and well-argued article in today’s Spectator on the Ruth Kelly crisis from a perhaps unlikely source – the conservative writer Leo McKinstry. I have been rather in two minds about this episode. On the one hand, like many New Labourites, Ruth Kelly exudes an air of ‘Not only am I cleverer than you but I am also a better person than you. So if you disagree with me you are simply revealing yourself as both ignorant and malignant.' She is the sort of person whom a political opponent can’t help but want to see taken down ...

It appears that 21st Century Liberal Mark Oaten is about to announce his withdrawal from the Liberal Democrat leadership election. It appears that only Lembit Opik of his parliamentary colleagues is supporting him. His non-existant internet presence has be noted by a number of bloggers and of all the candidates his has been the most low key campaign. As he was the second candidate to declare

There has been a sense of inevitability building around Mark Oaten's withdrawal from the Liberal Democrat leadership race. Of all of the campaigns, his seemed to have the least support from the very start, with a number of his parliamentary backers having said that they would support anyone in the interests of seeing a proper contest. The increasing desperation to stay in the race, culminating in the leaked e-mails, undermined the sense of authority that any prospective leader needs to convey. To me, Oaten is something of an enigma. He is clearly ambitious, not a bad thing ...

According to the Gruniad, Oaten will pull today!

Mark Oaten is due to pull out of the Lib Dem leadership contest today . The writing has been on the wall since it became clear he could rely on only one MP's support: not so much a big tent, as a portent. Many Lib Dems, me included, have harboured doubts about his leadership credentials. But it would only be fair to acknowledge that Mark has shown in the last 10 days that he can be an effective spokesman for the Party. He has appeared ...

As you might expect after this story, theguardian reports that Mark Oaten is going drop out of the leadership race. And then there were three. Tags: mark+oaten, liberal+democrats, lib+dem+leadership

by Peter Well I am glad I did not make that post about Mark Oaten now. My original line seems to have been the better one: Some MPs are apparently about to support Mark Oaten because they want a contest. I wonder if there is really room for both Oaten and Huhne in this contest. Now the Guardian reports that he is pulling out. I'll be sorrier than most. Many Lib Dem bloggers had decided that he was fourth in my preferences - and that was my view last week. His ambition is an advantage in ...

by Peter Stephen Tall has a very good post on who he has chosen to support in the leadership contest and why.

Ming Campbell’s campaign will be launched at 2.30 in the Atrium, 4 Millbank, London, SW1P 3JA, today. The speakers (in order) will be: Jo Swinson MP Mike Storey, former Leader, Liverpool City Council Baroness Shirley Williams Nick Clegg MP Sir Menzies Campbell MP

Following Oatengate last night. This morning I am slightly concerned that both Simon Hughes and Chris Huhne's websites have gone down. However, Sir Menzies Campbell's campaign team have been able to blog this today. Disturbing. Flash we need you to save the e-campaign.

Today's Western Mail reports proceedings at yesterday's Equality of Opportunity Committee when Huw Lewis again called for on-site childcare facilities in the Assembly's Cardiff Bay offices (no link available as yet). Huw makes the perfectly fair and reasonable point that we need a creche to stop us "sleepwalking into becoming another Westminster boys club". Having been a member of the House Committee for its entire five-plus years of existence I wholeheartedly concur with this view. Indeed one of the frustrations of being on this Committee is how difficult it has been to effect change. We managed to get an Access ...

The Independent carries a very positive profile of Ming by Andrew Grice, headlined “Campbell plans to ditch 50p tax for top earners.” “His programme will be fairer taxes, not higher taxes”, it says. It also quotes Ming saying: “I have had three lives: in sport, the law and in politics. I have had a very full [...]

by Peter Yesterday I was preparing to write an update (prevous post here) on the leadership campaign which was going to offer the controversial view that Mark Oaten had not had a bad week really, and might be advancing. My argument was going to be that the further from Westminster and Cowley Street you were, the better Oaten looked. The leak about the Kennedy e-mails in the Independent struck me as a bit of a wild-card - not really in Oaten's best, long-term interests. And then the news broke of this police involvement and the Kennedy denials broke - very ...

Thursday 19th January 2006 - The start of my third day in my effort to quit smoking, going well so far but I have to admit I have had to have the odd puff over the last couple of days. But after 30 years of smoking 40 a day I guess stopping overnight was always going to be extremely difficult, I ahve cut down to almost a quarter of that in my first 2 days which is quite a significant step

I've received this comment : "if that's true, why do the British Social Attitudes surveys report more and more respondents defining themselves as "working class"?(See also)" About the following line in my article about Labour: "The rise of the service industry has increased the size of the group that self-defines itself as middle-class......" **** What I should have written is either

What. The. Hell? Seriously, why are the wheels on the Oaten bus coming off so quickly? While I’ve never had that much regard for Oaten himself, I have some regard for Opik as someone who understands both campaigning and communication. And I never dreamt that we would reach this stage with Oaten unable to [...]