Kennedy was a wonderful leader and It will be a great sorrow to see him go. He always acted with honesty and integrity. He massively increased the lib dem vote at the 2001 and 2005 elections. It will be remembered that he was the only leader not to back the war in iraq, which turned out to be an utter shambles which continues to this day.
Sadly, though Charles would remain an excellent leader now he has to go or face embarassing publicity that woudl see the liberal democrat vote plummet. I just hope someone can continue his excellent leadership. If his achievements are to be repeated, it won't be long before the liberal democrats become the main opposition, something which Charles came incredibly close to.
I would sincerely like to have Simon Hughes replace him, being like him severely to the left of the party. No doubt Menzies Campbell, being an experienced statesman that is nicely in the middle and not going to split the party, and as the next election looms, who knows what next? Lembit Opik, perhaps? We shall see.