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Liberal Democrat leader resigns | Liberal Democrat leader resigns |
(10 minutes later) | |
Sir Menzies Campbell has resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats, "with immediate effect". | Sir Menzies Campbell has resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats, "with immediate effect". |
Senior Lib Dems Vincent Cable and Simon Hughes made the announcement, saying the party owed Sir Menzies "a huge debt of gratitude". | Senior Lib Dems Vincent Cable and Simon Hughes made the announcement, saying the party owed Sir Menzies "a huge debt of gratitude". |
Deputy leader Mr Cable will take over as acting leader for now - a leadership timetable will be announced on Tuesday. | |
Mr Hughes said Sir Menzies had taken the decision in the "interests of the party and of Liberal Democracy". | |
Sir Menzies was not present when the announcement was made and both Mr Cable and Lib Dem president Mr Hughes said they would not be answering any questions. | |
The BBC understands that, in a private meeting with Lib Dem members, Sir Menzies said that he did not believe he could turn around his and the party's current poor poll ratings. | |
He indicated that now it was clear that there would be no election for many months he wanted to give his successor time to bed in before the election. | |
Mr Hughes said Sir Menzies had brought "purpose and stability" to the party since he took over as leader, after Charles Kennedy quit in January 2006. | |
He added that he had put in place the preparations for the next general election "whenever it comes". | |
Speculation has been growing about the Lib Dem leadership, particularly since Prime Minister Gordon Brown decided not to call an early general election - and indicated he may not do so until 2009 at the earliest. |