I am an increasingly reluctant supporter of the Labour Party - it would be nice to think that there was an alternative but I am not fooled by David Cameron and the rest of the David party and I was never keen to vote for a party who didn't have a chocolate-tea-pot-in-hells chance of producing a Prime Minister. Having said that I am saddened by the political demise of Charled Kennedy - he struck me as a decent bloke with a charming sense of humour.

It can only be a surprise to the very naive that he has a problem with alcohol - he has long had a reputation as a bit of a drinker and had often looked rather shaky and if not exactly befuddled then certainly someone with a very recent aquaintance with the state. I do think it is fair to accuse him of decieving anyone - I imagine that alcoholics decieve themselves far longer than they fool anyone else. I do think that he has handled the situation badly though - he could have slipped away with his dignity intact had he decided to go after the last election, when he'd had a good campaign but had yet again presided over a demonstration of the irrelevance of the Liberal Democrats. Or he could have gone a couple of weeks ago when his leadership was challenged with at least his personal life remaining private. He is now going to be known as a leader who resigned because he was a drunk, and that is a tragedy.

A quiet life with his wife and his baby is probably going to be a much better environment for a continuing battle with his demons than the battleground of parliament and he was perhaps foolish to imagine that he could have continued to hold his place as a credible challenger to Tony and David once his problems were known. There is little sympathy for misfortune in the palace of Westminster.

So let's raise a glass to Charles Kennedy.....