Kennedy deputy fails to rule out challenge

The vultures began to gather around Charles Kennedy's leadership today after a senior Liberal Democrat refused to rule out a takeover.

The party's deputy leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, said that doubts and rumours about Mr Kennedy's health had "overshadowed" the Lib-Dems' spring conference and "obscured important messages we are trying to get across".

Asked about his own leadership hopes, Sir Menzies said: "One should rule nothing in and rule nothing out. Who knows?"

Mr Kennedy faces a fresh test today when he addresses the Liberal Democrats' Scottish conference in Dundee. Yesterday, in a series of interviews, he again denied as "utter rubbish" the suggestion that he was suffering a drink problem and blamed a severe stomach bug for having missed the Budget. However, he conceded: "Obviously, I had a health setback last week of a fairly severe kind, for which I had to take myself off to bed for several days, and that is not something I want to see repeated."

Doubts over Mr Kennedy's leadership have been fuelled by the fact that his party faces a gruelling campaign for the local, European and London mayoral elections on 10 June.

Sir Menzies is said to have told friends that there is never a day that he does not wish he had challenged for the leadership when Mr Kennedy was chosen, five years ago. Yesterday he admitted that he regretted not standing "for about 10 minutes a day" before turning his mind to other matters.