Last week’s odds on favourite now third in the betting

Just a week ago the Lib Dem President, Simon Hughes was riding high in the betting and was odds on to become the next leader. Now all has changed as a result, apparently, of nothing that he said or did. It is just that the sentiment has moved away from him.

Two things seem to have happened: the acting leader, Ming Campbell put up a reasonable performance at Prime Minister’s Questions and there has been Mark Oaten – who first pulled out of the this and then, yesterday, was the subject of “rent boy” allegations in the News of the World.

What seems to be a big factor behind the current move away from Hughes is that fact that he is unmarried. The 64 year old Ming Campbell increasingly looks like a safer choice.

Latest best prices are:- Campbell 0.73/1: Huhne 3.1/1: Hughes 4.9/1.

The way this race has gone up and down anything could happen – so don’t rule Hughes out yet. If something happened that reinforced worries about Ming’s age or health then he could appear attractive again.

Mike Smithson