Liberal Democrat leader resigns
Sir Menzies Campbell has resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats, "with immediate effect". Senior Lib Dems Vincent Cable and Simon Hughes made the announcement, saying the party owed Sir Menzies "a huge debt of gratitude". Deputy leader Mr Cable will take over as acting leader for now - a leadership timetable will be announced on Tuesday.
Mr Hughes said Sir Menzies had taken the decision in the "interests of the party and of Liberal Democracy". Sir Menzies was not present when the announcement was made. The BBC understands that, in a private meeting with Lib Dem members, he said that he did not believe he could turn around his and the party's current poor poll ratings. He indicated that now it was clear that there would be no election for many months he wanted to give his successor time to bed in before the election.
Party president Mr Hughes said Sir Menzies had brought "purpose and stability" to the party since he took over as leader, after Charles Kennedy quit in January 2006. He added that he had put in place the preparations for the next general election "whenever it comes". Speculation has been growing about the Lib Dem leadership, particularly since Prime Minister Gordon Brown decided not to call an early general election - and indicated he may not do so until 2009 at the earliest.
But a spokeswoman for Sir Menzies said he had made the decision to stand down himself and had handed his resignation letter to the party's president on Monday afternoon. She said he had stood down in the interests of the party because he did not want the Liberal Democrat message drowned out by media speculation about his future.
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It's not exactly surprising but I'm sure Galloway will have a few choice agist comments to make about it at the weekend!
