Sir Menzies 'irritated and frustrated' at exit

Ousted Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has admitted feeling "irritated and frustrated" after his resignation.

The 66-year-old's resignation on Monday night came as little surprise but for the swift and apparently blunt manner by which it occurred.

The ex-leader said Prime Minister Gordon Brown's decision to call off a snap election had been a key factor but insisted nobody had urged him to quit. Instead he blamed the media.

"If Gordon Brown had called that election we would have been ready for him," said Sir Menzies.

"But There were seven consecutive days in which there were seven consecutive stories or reviews about my age and it became very clear to me it was going to be very hard to get out from under that."

In his resignation letter, he said: "It has become clear following the Prime Minister's decision not to hold an election, questions about leadership are getting in the way of further progress by the party.

"Accordingly, I now submit my resignation as leader with immediate effect."

The result of the ballot for a new leader will be announced in the week beginning December 16, the party has said.

Dissent in the party came to a head over the weekend when party president Simon Hughes urged his boss to "up his game".

Having made the resignation announcement, Mr Hughes ignored reporters' cries of "Did you wield the dagger?"

He said later: "Ming in the end made his own decision, he took his own counsel."

However, prominent Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock said he believed Sir Menzies, a former Olympic sprinter, had been forced to quit.

He said: "Why should he have to take some of the back-biting from people who couldn't say it to his face. This same group who've got so much loyalty to his face, but so little behind his back."

He said Sir Menzies' treatment by some of his colleagues had been "absolutely despicable", saying: "We just didn't give the poor man a chance."

Mr Hancock blamed what he described as "a right shower who were stirring it behind his back, didn't have the guts to come forward and spell it out to his face or even to the Parliamentary party".

According to reports, Sir Menzies's allies have been pointing the finger at supporters of environment spokesman Chris Huhne, who is seen as one of the front runners to replace him.

Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown disclosed he had been about to warn Sir Menzies that he faced a struggle if he tried to continue. The two men had been due to meet today.

Lord Ashdown said: "I was going to say to him 'Look, Ming, it is going to be quite tough if you continue to an election in 2009, but one thing is clear and that is when you go, go on your own terms and go when you want to go.' He beat me to it."

"He took his own decision in his own time. I think he went on his terms when he believed he had completed his job."

Sir Menzies took over as leader last year after Charles Kennedy was forced to resign over a drink problem.

But since the 2005 General Election, the party's support in opinion polls had halved to just 11 per cent with its popularity steadily sliding against Labour and the Conservatives.

And he had been criticised for his lacklustre performance in Parliament and continually mocked in the press over his age.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.