Member of Parliament
While studying in America, he received the Social Democratic Party (SDP) nomination for the Scottish seat of Ross, Cromarty and Skye, which he went on to win in 1983, becoming the youngest sitting Member of Parliament, aged 23. He has retained the seat and its successor, Ross, Skye and Inverness West, at five subsequent general elections. He is the Liberal Democrat MP for the seat, which replaced it in 2005, Ross, Skye and Lochaber.
In the late 1980s, the SDP and the Liberal Party, which had been co-operating in the SDP–Liberal Alliance, merged to form the Social and Liberal Democratic Party, later renamed the Liberal Democrats. Kennedy was the first of the five SDP MPs to support the merger; in his book "Time To Declare" David Owen suggests this was due to pressure from Liberal activists in his constituency.
Kennedy served as a frontbencher for the Lib Dems in a variety of posts, including social security, agriculture and rural affairs, health, Scotland and Europe. He was also party president for four years, between 1990 and 1994.
Read more about this topic: Charles Kennedy
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