Even before Christmas, some Lib Dems in particular Mr Kennedy and Malcolm Bruce, the shadow Treasury spokesman had disliked the idea of pinning all the party's hopes on voting reform of the sort proposed by Lord Jenkins.
Almost all of the Lib Dems' 46 MPs, including Mr Ashdown, and many peers crowded into a Commons committee room to hear addresses from the six challengers - Charles Kennedy, SImon Hughes, Jackie Ballard, Don Foster, Malcolm Bruce and David Rendel.