End of the Ming dynasty

Sir Menzies Campbell has stood down as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

One can tell that it's been a messy internal affair from the very fact that it's occurred with such speed and from the fact that Campbell refused to even announce his own departure - or give any reasons for it - and left the announcement that he was leaving to Simon Hughes.

It is clear that he has been ousted, and this point was underlined by statements from Campbell's supporters:

One supporter accused a handful of MPs of plotting against Sir Menzies, adding: "They should be strung up from the nearest tree."

In a bizarre way Sir Menzies has been brought down by the fact that Gordon Brown refused to call a snap General Election, leaving all of us to believe it will be eighteen months before the parties face the polls; all indications are that some Liberals thought this would allow them to introduce a new leader to the general public before the party has to face the polls.

The abrupt and undignified departure followed increasingly public concern among peers, MPs and activists about his lack of voter appeal, as polls placed the party as low as 11%.

Momentum gathered over the weekend and previously staunch supporters fell silent when pressed to defend him.

Sir Menzies spoke to frontbenchers, including Chris Huhne, a potential contender for the leadership, before making his decision, although he did not ask for direct advice on his future as leader.

One of the MPs he talked to described the conversation as "the endgame" and compared it to Mr Kennedy's attempt to keep his job shortly before resigning in 2005. He described the leader's removal from office as a potentially "messy business" but said that the party risked losing "all credibility if he stayed".

But many in the parliamentary party were taken by surprise by the sudden turn of events. While Sir Menzies quit neither in the manner nor at a time of his own choosing, and just two days after he had insisted he wanted to take the party through to the next election, his swift departure was in stark contrast to the protracted and messy removal of his predecessor, Mr Kennedy.

Mike Hancock MP told the BBC: "I think he was shafted by a complete shower of shits." Frontbencher Norman Baker added: "I think a decent man deserved better than that."

Regular readers here will know that I support the Labour Party but I actually had enormous admiration for Sir Menzies Campbell who, after Robin Cook, was one of the most eloquent opponents of the Iraq war in this country. His stance towards the war was always consistent and articulately put. He used his considerable intellect to punch holes in the government's logic and, as Hancock and Baker have said, he certainly deserved better treatment than he appears to have been given; where he appears to have been shoved out the back door without so much as a thank you.

In a written statement released after his resignation was announced, Sir Menzies said: "With the help of others, I believe I have fulfilled [the objectives I set out to achieve], although I am convinced that the internal structures of the party need radical revision if we are to compete effectively. But it has become clear that ... questions about leadership are getting in the way of further progress. Accordingly I now submit my resignation ... I do not intend to hold a press conference or make further comment."

John Barnett, head of the party in Sir Menzies' Fife constituency, added later: "Obviously he is sad at the turn of events."

Charles Kennedy said the party was grateful to him, while former leader Lord Ashdown said his resignation "tells us more about the nature of modern politics than it does about Ming Campbell".

I'm with Paddy Ashdown on this one. Sir Menzies Campbell is, if nothing else, a man of great dignity. And that's the one thing that his opponents have denied him in this messy, hurried, exit.

The only way Sir Menzies could reclaim any dignity during this debacle was to refuse to speak at all and force the people who had knifed him behind closed doors to step out publicly and announce what they had done.

As Simon Hoggart brilliantly puts it in today's Guardian:

At Mafia funerals it's always the capo who ordered the hit who makes the most fulsome speech over the coffin - about the departed's wonderful qualities, his integrity, his patriotism, his love of family.

So it was yesterday when Simon Hughes and Vincent Cable emerged from Lib Dem headquarters to announce the resignation of Ming Campbell.

The guys making the speeches have their hands behind their backs, trying to hide the knives that they have recently plunged into their leaders back.

In the end, few of us actually care who leads the Liberal Democrats as they are never going to win any election anyway. Which makes it even sadder to see such a dignified man treated in such an appalling way.

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Tags: Sir Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrats, resignation