Explaining the Forced Exit of Charles Kennedy: Pushing the Public–Private Boundary

The demise of Charles Kennedy as leader of the Liberal Democrats (1999–2006) has generally been understood as an unfortunate consequence of Kennedy's struggle with alcohol dependency. Others have suggested that Kennedy was removed because he proved a poor party leader. In contrast, this article argues that the alcohol issue was of key importance, yet that this factor overlapped with the wider depletion of Kennedy's leadership credibility. It is also suggested that Kennedy's removal was in part a consequence of the continued erosion of the boundaries between public and private life in British politics.