Liberal Democrats leadership election, 1999

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The 1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election was called following the resignation of Paddy Ashdown as leader. There were five candidates and all members of the party were balloted using the Alternative Vote preference system. The election was won by Charles Kennedy, who served as leader until his resignation in 2006.

The chief issue in the election was whether the party should continue its partial collaboration with the Labour Party, which had seen Ashdown and other senior Liberal Democrats appointed to a joint Cabinet committee on electoral reform. Most of the candidates were to various degrees sceptical about this approach, with Simon Hughes the most hostile and Charles Kennedy the strongest defender of Ashdown. The campaign was almost entirely free of bitterness and outspoken comments. Kennedy was generally favoured by the press because of his name recognition, which derived from his frequent appearances on light-hearted panel games on television.

[edit] Results

First round
Candidate		Change	Votes	%
	Charles Kennedy	-	22,724	44.6
	Simon Hughes	-	16,233	31.8
	Malcolm Bruce	-	4,643	9.1
	Jackie Ballard	-	3,978	7.8
	David Rendel	-	3,428	6.7
Turnout			51,006	62%

Second round
Candidate		Change	Votes	%
	Charles Kennedy	+895	23,619	46.5
	Simon Hughes	+1,145	17,378	34.2
	Malcolm Bruce	+598	5,241	10.3
	Jackie Ballard	+627	4,605	9.1
	David Rendel	-3,428	-	-
	Not transferable	+163	163	-

Third round
Candidate		Change	Votes	%
	Charles Kennedy	+1,545	25,164	49.7
	Simon Hughes	+1,982	19,360	38.3
	Malcolm Bruce	+827	6,068	12.0
	Jackie Ballard	-4,605	-	-
	Not transferable	+251	414	-

Final round
Candidate		Change	Votes	%
	Charles Kennedy	+3,261	28,425	56.6
	Simon Hughes	+2,473	21,833	43.4
	Malcolm Bruce	-6,068	-	-
	Not transferable	+334	748	-

[edit] References

Colin Rosenstiel. All-member ballot results. Liberal Democrats' election results 1998-2004. Retrieved on 2006-01-10.
David Boothroyd. Liberal Party Leaders. United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved on 2006-01-11.