Charles Kennedy

[kalypso_v]

I woke this morning to the news of Charles Kennedy's death, and I have been brooding over it ever since. I'm a little surprised that I didn't see more reaction to it on Twitter; there were a few people posting about it, but fewer than I'd expected. Had he passed out of the public consciousness already? Indeed, when I looked through the details

Comments

[snowgrouse]

I was kind of surprised why people weren't talking about him more either. I lived in the UK when he was the Lib Dem leader, so I was following UK politics more closely then, and thought he had his heart in the right place (agree with you about the Iraq war and the Coalition fiascos). I immediately thought it might have been drink that'd killed him, but perhaps it was just a heart attack from recent stress and smoking. Shame to see him gone so soon.

[kalypso_v]

I'm touched that his death meant something to you. katlinel says there has been more reaction in Scotland, which makes sense, but I hadn't thought of it as a specifically Scottish story; it was the lead story on the Radio Four news until the latest instalment of the Blatter saga broke.

I had heard that he was the sort of person who was fine when busy, but fell back on drink when bored, so my first thought was that losing his seat last month had left him in a vacuum, but Alastair Campbell's piece suggests he was holding up and planning for the political future, so maybe that isn't so.

[iainjcoleman]

Thanks for the mention. As you say, the cause of death will no doubt emerge in due course, but the equation sudden death + Scottish = heart attack is usually reliable.

[kalypso_v]

As the doctor responsible for my father's death certificate said, when in doubt write heart failure. But yes, a heart attack does seem very probable.