THE Liberal Democrats are heading for civil war after moves for the swift coronation of Sir Menzies Campbell to replace Charles Kennedy were swept aside last night.

With grassroot party members threatening open revolt the contest descended into backbiting and recrimination as Simon Hughes, the party president and a likely leadership candidate, accused fellow MPs of disloyalty to Mr Kennedy.

The Times has learnt that the Liberal Democrats will be told today that their biggest donor is likely to withdraw his support. Michael Brown, the Majorca-based businessman who gave £2.4 million to the party last year, is furious at the treatment of Mr Kennedy.

Sir Menzies, 64, the deputy leader, is the only declared candidate to succeed Mr Kennedy, who bowed to the inevitable and resigned on Saturday after losing the support of almost half his parliamentary party two days after admitting that he had a drink problem.

Sir Menzies, a former Olympic sprinter, was backed by 35 of the party’s 62 MPs, including rising stars such as David Laws, Ed Davey, Nick Clegg and Vince Cable, the party’s treasury spokesman. But Sir Menzies, who would be 67 or 68 at the next election, faces a potentially bitter contest amid continuing recriminations over the plot to remove Mr Kennedy.

The contest comes at a crucial time, with local elections in May, a policy review in its early stages and David Cameron challenging the Liberal Democrats to come over to a resurgent Tory party.

Mr Hughes, a favourite of the party’s grassroots, condemned the prospect of a coronation. He also derided as “unacceptable and inexcusable” that at least one other leadership candidate had his campaign well in place long before Mr Kennedy quit. This was a thinly veiled reference to Mark Oaten, the Shadow home affairs spokesman, who said last month that he would run if there was a vacancy. Mr Oaten, who hinted again that he would stand, retaliated, saying: “I don’t think anyone could have been more loyal to Charles. I find that hurtful.”

Mr Kennedy, who is expected to privately support Mr Oaten, pleaded with the party not to further alienate its 73,000 members by choosing his successor behind closed doors at Westminster. “An awful lot of our members out there — and this is a voluntary organisation right across the country — feel very shut out of the decisions taken so far,” he said.

Last night the party’s ruling federal executive committee appeared divided over whether to hold a snap poll by late March or wait until after the local elections. Many leading figures in the party want a rapid election, which would appear to favour Sir Menzies.

One senior party figure said: “There is a real fear that if we do not get this right there will be a serious split. “The grassroot members feel enraged that Charles was ousted in a parliamentary coup without their say so, involvement, input, or without being consulted.”

Ed Davey, the education spokesman, who drew up the letter from 25 of the party’s 62 MPs telling Mr Kennedy that they could no longer work with him, appealed for a proper contest. “We must give our members a chance to have their say and I think the contest could help the healing process.”

A spokesman for Mr Brown said that the donor was deeply distressed by the turn of events. “Michael spoke to Charles over the weekend and he is shell-shocked by what has happened,” he said. “He invested the money, a record amount, because he believed in Charles Kennedy, not the others.”

In another move likely to generate controversy, Lord Razzall, Mr Kennedy’s key strategist, has been elected for a further year as chairman of the Liberal Democrat campaigns and communications committee. Nominations for this post closed late last month with Lord Razzall as the only candidate. He told The Times: “I am in charge of campaigns and we have a parliamentary by-election coming up and local elections and I intend to carry on.”

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