CHARLES KENNEDY bowed to the inevitable yesterday by resigning as Liberal Democrat leader, two days after admitting that he was an alcoholic.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the party’s deputy leader and foreign affairs spokesman, is the favourite to succeed him in a leadership contest that will begin immediately.

After weeks of pressure and an intense 48 hours in which he was forced to make a statement that he was confronting his alcoholism, Kennedy resigned yesterday afternoon, saying it was his “personal, political and constitutional duty” to act in the interests of his party.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, he said he wanted to get better so that he could enjoy his baby son and so that the child “can have a good environment to grow up in”.

Most of his frontbench colleagues at Westminster had threatened to resign if Kennedy — party leader since 1999 — did not go by Monday morning, making his position untenable.

It followed a day of frantic phone calls in which Simon Hughes, the party president and another potential successor, tried to swing rebels around to a compromise where Kennedy would stand down temporarily and then stand in a full leadership contest after the May local elections. But as the day progressed it became clear that the situation had grown too bitter for a compromise.

Rebels argued that Kennedy had had the chance to go with dignity before Christmas when they confronted him. One dismissed Hughes’s solution as a “nasty fudge that would make us look ridiculous”. Once Kennedy came to see that his position was unsustainable, a press conference at the Lib Dems’ Westminster headquarters was hastily arranged.

An immediate leadership election will now be held, but the process threatens to undermine the party’s campaign in the May elections. Campbell will take over the party leadership in the meantime and last night said that he would be standing in the contest.

The party’s young, modernising wing threw its support behind him, making him an early front-runner. Hughes is considering standing but could yet cut a deal with Campbell whereby he will become deputy, being given a major brief and put in charge of a policy review, in return for not running. This could mean that Campbell is returned unopposed in the same way that Michael Howard was elected Tory leader in November 2003.

Asked if he would stand, Hughes said yesterday: “It absolutely remains an option.” Mark Oaten, the party’s home affairs spokesman and another potential candidate, said: “I’m not ruling myself out, but I still need to speak to more people.”

Kennedy’s resignation means that all three parties will have new leaders at the next general election. Gordon Brown is likely to replace Tony Blair and David Cameron is now Tory leader. Kennedy said in his statement that he had been “inundated” with messages of support but added: “It has become clear that such support is not reflected strongly enough across the parliamentary party.”

He said: “I am standing down as leader with immediate effect. I have been in politics for far too long to be overly sentimental about this sort of moment. However, I would like to pay a heartfelt tribute to the many colleagues and friends who have helped sustain me through my years as party leader.”

In a sideswipe at those who say that the advent of Cameron was a key factor in his downfall, he added: “My sincere parting advice as leader to the party is . . . not to get unduly distracted by the machinations in other parties. That route will blur our identity and turn away the very voters who are still looking to us — rightly so — as their best hope for the future.”

Hughes criticised the way the leader had been forced out. He said: “This wasn’t our most glorious moment. Many people will have regrets about Charles standing down. Many think he was badly treated.”

Those thoughts were echoed by Kennedy’s 79-year-old father Ian who added: “This has nothing to do with drink or my son’s leadership, this is to do with a bunch of political plotters in his party who wanted him out regardless of anything.”

Lord Ashdown, Kennedy’s predecessor as leader, said: “Charles has taken a courageous decision and the right one for himself and the party.”

Campbell, speaking outside his home in Edinburgh, commended Kennedy for his “dignity and courage” and for his achievements as leader. He said: “The party will for ever be in his debt . . . As deputy leader I will be assuming his responsibilities with immediate effect and over the next 48 hours will obviously be consulting colleagues. But I can confirm today that I intend to be a candidate in the leadership contest which is to follow.”

Kennedy’s wife Sarah made her first comment on the resignation when she arrived at the family home in Kennington, south London. She smiled and told reporters: “I’m very proud of him and what he’s achieved with the party.”

Vince Cable, the Lib Dem shadow chancellor, had on Friday sealed his leader’s downfall by delivering a letter calling for his departure with the signatures of 25 of the party’s MPs, including more than half of the shadow cabinet. Yesterday he said Kennedy’s drink problem was his downfall.

Hinting that he would be backing Campbell, he said: “We now need someone who can unify the party, someone with a mixture of experience, wisdom and gravitas. I don’t think we should be trying to copy the Tories with youth and inexperience.”

Matthew Taylor, who ran Kennedy’s campaign for the party leadership in 1999 and pleaded with him to go on Friday, said: “I think he needed to tackle his problems with alcohol outside the leadership contest. I wish he had taken the advice given to him privately by a number of us.”

He also offered his backing to Campbell, saying: “Menzies Campbell bestrides the party with authority and respect, not just within the Liberal Democrats but with the Labour and Conservative parties, in the Commons and the wider country.”

Contenders must have the backing of 10% of the parliamentary party and 200 local members. The party’s 70,000 membership will vote from a list of candidates, unless there is only one name.

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