In November 1989 it was still languishing in the opinion polls recording a mere 3

In November 1989 it was still languishing in the opinion polls, recording a mere 3 per cent.Mr Ashdown himself was forced swiftly to abandon the hopelessly ambitious vision with which he successfully fought his leadership election against Alan Beith in 1988 – that of replacing the Labour Party as the main party of opposition to Mrs Thatcher. A member of the Special Boat Squadron, and of MI6 (though he has never admitted it) between 1971 and 1976, he spent almost all his active political life as a Liberal, apart from one brief period as a Labour Party member when he was in the Army.He is also one of the few serious politicians to have worked actively, as a labourer, as a personnel manager in industry, and as a youth officer for Dorset county council before he became an MP.He took over his party at probably the most unpromising period in its history, and led it through an election in 1997 which secured it 46 seats, the biggest total since the 1929 election.When he took over in 1988, the hopes and dreams of the Alliance – the uneasy marriage between the Liberals and the Social Democratic Party, which was supposed to replace the Labour Party as the main anti-Tory force in British politics – had collapsed in recrimination. He left it last night with his goal of a realignment of the centre and left in British politics tantalisingly within its grasp.
He is also by a long way the longest-standing party leader in Britain, having outstayed two Labour leaders and two Tory ones in his 101/2 years in office.Mr Ashdown is an action man-turned-politician who has never quite lost the boyish excitement and bravado that led him into the Royal Marines at the age of 18, after he left Bedford School in 1959. He took over as leader of the Social and Liberal Democrats in July 1988, amid the wreckage of the Alliance break-up after the 1987 election. IF TONY Blair gets his way by reshaping British politics then history will judge Paddy Ashdown as the biggest figure among leaders of the third party since the war. Yeovil, like many other rural towns, has a host of social problems including unemployment and drug abuse.One taxi driver said: “Mr Ashdown is a popular man but I wonder what he has really done. What is there around here for the young people? He said he would be sorting out a leisure centre but there is no news on that yet.”.

It seems funny that he should be talking to the most powerful man in Britain one day and then come in here the next.”But he comes in just like anybody else – and I think he enjoys the anonymity.”Judith Grainger, 44, a midwife who has lived in the village for three years said: “He is very proactive. He’s done a lot for the community and for the village.”Not everyone was as enthusiastic about their local MP. I am surprised because he is in such a position of influence.”Sometimes when he does discuss politics in here, he will talk about how he was speaking to Tony Blair yesterday. You will see him and his wife walking through the village and they will always say hello He is not an arrogant man. You don’t feel intimidated by him.”Mark Bloom, landlord of the Lord Nelson, where Mr Ashdown pays a weekly visit to drink Worthington Best bitter and munch his way through a couple of packets of crisps, said he had suspected the MP would stand down as leader soon.”He will concentrate on being a local man,” he said “He does a lot for the local area.

It’s amazing really when you think that he is able to find the time to do all that.”That is the way he is. To them Mr Ashdown is primarily the constituency MP and they would have been far more bothered had he resigned as the member for Yeovil.”I am not particularly into Liberal politics, but I will say you will never find a harder- working local MP,” said Andrew Wiggins, 41, a careers worker.”In the summer there is barely a fete around here that he doesn’t agree to open. It was a familiar face that filled the screen: Mr Ashdown is a popular and high-profile member of the community and the people of Norton sub Hamdon, a picturesque village in a south Somerset valley, are used to seeing their MP on the television.
Locals said they were shocked by his decision to stand down as leader of the Liberal Democrats but one sensed they were not overly distressed. IN THE Lord Nelson, an imposing pub 100 yards from Paddy Ashdown’s stone-built home, the conversation stopped for News at Ten last night. Mr Hughes could win votes from those who have their doubts about the relationship with the Government. He has emerged as the most outspoken critic of links with Labour, at one point threatening to resign his frontbench health post if the cabinet committee was extended to cover his portfolio He will also appeal to the party’s “green” lobby.. But then, nominations open in a contest that will be decided in a matter of weeks.Each candidate must be nominated by two other Liberal Democrat MPs and be supported by 200 ordinary party members.

Once the names of all candidates are in, there will be a one-member-one-vote ballot among all 90,000 party members across Britain.At Westminster, MPs who see themselves as successors have been trying to raise their profiles. That point came last week when it was agreed to extend co-operation.The party hierarchy was at pains to stress that there must be no campaigning until after Mr Ashdown has stood down. Mr Ashdown’s departure has long been on the cards, and the big question of who will be his successor has long been a favourite dinner- table debating topic among Liberal Democrats at Westminster.He told Mr Blair after the election that he would go when he was sure that the “modernisation project” with Labour was secure. Allies of Mr Harvey said he would continue Mr Ashdown’s broad strategy, rather than “take our bat and ball away” but would be “in there negotiating hard”.Although the official contest cannot start until Mr Ashdown actually stands down in June, the behind-the-scenes jostling for position will now begin. I will endorse no candidate,” said Mr Ashdown.”Of course it has been my strategy to make sure that the party has a proper range of choices. I have put people in front-row jobs so they can show their skills.”Some Liberal Democrat sources at Westminster said Mr Harvey was too young, with no real campaign base in the party from which to launch a successful leadership bid. Others include the former BBC reporter Mr Kennedy, Don Foster, the Education spokesman, and Nick Harvey, the party campaign chief.In his message to the party, Mr Ashdown said: “The leadership election will also – as has always been my wish – provide an opportunity for the party to confirm democratically, the strategy I have set for the future.