Kennedy: voters don't see me as future PM

Charles Kennedy today admitted voters do not yet see him as a potential Prime Minister.

The Liberal Democrat leader acknowledged he faced a challenge to be seen as someone who could lead the country. But he claimed all opposition leaders shared this problem - and insisted he has what it takes to be in No10.

Mr Kennedy, who consistently receives high personal ratings in opinion polls, was asked about his public image on Radio 4's Today programme.

Answering claims that he is seen as "just a nice guy" who has still to convince voters he can lead the country, he said: "I quite agree. That is something that any opposition leader has to do.

"The day James Callaghan vacated No10 Downing Street, he was still more credible and more popular as a prime minister in this country than Mrs Thatcher, who proved to be there for a very long time

to come. In part that only comes through the sequence of events, and that takes a long time."

He said opinion polls showed he had a very positive popularity rating compared with Tony Blair or Michael Howard.

Pressed on whether he was suited to the job of prime minister, he added: "Well, we shall see. The most discerning electorate is probably the one that has seen me for the longest, at the closest quarters, and that is the one that sent me to the House of Commons aged 23 in 1983, and touch wood, thus far, they are still sticking with me.

"So I must be doing something right along the way."

An ICM poll today shows Charles Kennedy remains the most popular leader of the three main parties. He has a positive rating of plus 25 points, with 50 per cent of voters satisfied and only 25 per cent of voters dissatisfied.

Tony Blair's net personal rating is minus 15 points, with 39 per cent of voters saying he is doing a good job, and 54 per cent disagreeing. Conservative leader Michael Howard has a rating of minus 11 points.

During today's interview, Mr Kennedy was also asked how many more Commons seats the Lib-Dems hope to take at the next general election. They currently have 55.

He refused to suggest a figure, but said: "Let's take that as a good starting statistic. With only 55 seats, compared with the Conservative parliamentary party three times that size, have we packed a better punch, as a credible opposition?

"On everything from Iraq, to the campaign against the council tax, to the campaign for fairer pensions, I think we have."

He said the "roulette wheel" of the first-past-the-post electoral system often produced distorted results"

He added: "It's a mug's game for me to try and predict exact seats, but I do think we are on course to achieve what we have always said we want to: a substantial hike in the number of votes for the Liberal Democrats, and therefore the number of seats we will have in the next Parliament."