ALMOST two years after his ignominious fall from power because of his problems with alcohol, Charles Kennedy is set for a return to frontline politics.

Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne, the two contenders for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, are preparing to ask Kennedy to take on a new high-profile role in the party.

With the results of the Lib Dem leadership contest due to be announced on Tuesday, Clegg and Huhne believe that Kennedy could play an important role in reviving the party’s fortunes. Private polling shows that he is still one of the Lib Dems’ most recognisable political figures.

Sources say that after private talks with the deposed former leader, Clegg and Huhne have indicated that whichever one of them is elected will formally ask him to head a commission that will frame Lib Dem policy on Europe – in particular how to combat Euroscepticism among voters.

They also want the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber to take on a far higher public profile, using his popularity on television to help to boost the party’s fortunes. It was his penchant for appearing on TV that led to his nickname “Chat-show Charlie”.

Kennedy, who in his 24 years in politics has done a variety of frontbench roles, is not thought to want to take on a full-time role as a party spokesman.

“Charles should be on the front bench because he is such a key public face for the party with such enormous appeal and a grounded common sense. Europe is Charles’s great passion which he is now showing with his leadership of the European Movement,” said Huhne.

A spokeswoman for Clegg confirmed that, if elected, he too would ask Kennedy to return to the limelight. “There have been talks,” she said.

Kennedy was forced by his MPs to quit as leader in January last year, finally admitting that he had been struggling for years with a “drinking problem”. Friends say he has been working hard to overcome this, although rumours of occasional relapses have continued to dog him.

He was the most successful Liberal leader in modern times, gaining 62 MPs at the last election, the highest number since the 1920s. He also steered the party to coalition government in Scotland and saw his personal poll rating outstrip both the Tory and Labour leaders’ figures.

Kennedy’s laid-back approach and decision to oppose the Iraq war led to huge gains at the ballot box. But his failure to turn up during a budget speech and his appearance dripping with sweat at a Lib Dem conference led to speculation about his drinking habits.

Finally his MPs decided that his drinking was getting in the way of his job. He was succeeded by Sir Menzies Campbell, who was forced to retire after MPs and peers told him he was failing to make an impact at the polls.

Kennedy is not the only former leader who is expected to be asked back. Should he win, Clegg has offered Campbell a job running a commission on the conditions of the armed services.

Private polling has shown that the leadership election will be close, with Huhne gaining on Clegg, the front-runner, in the last fortnight of the campaign.

Vince Cable, who has won plaudits for his Commons performances as stand-in leader, is to be offered “any job he wants” by both Clegg and Huhne. He is expected to stay in his role as Treasury spokesman and to remain as deputy party leader.

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