Charles Kennedy began his political life in another world. It was the Highlands, it was feudal – and it was the SDP. His nomination as SDP candidate in 1982 for what was then Ross and Cromarty was a stitch-up by Bob Maclennan, then the MP for neighbouring Caithness and Sutherland. There was a strong local candidate but he was considered to have too many rough edges to make a good campaigner. Charles was favoured by Bob who, in an area party that grouped members from both Ross and Cromarty and Bob’s own Caithness and Sutherland constituency, whipped his own constituency members into line to ensure Charles secured the nomination.
Ross and Cromarty was then the most volatile seat in the UK, being won on a couple of occasions recently by the party which had previously come last in a three-or four-way contest. So it was a good seat for a buccaneering Highlander like Charles to contest. During the election campaign he would deliver one speech at a village hall in Achiltibuie geared perfectly to the needs of the crofters; and then an hour or so later deliver another in Ullapool focusing on Scotland’s fishing industries.
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