The future of this centrist party was the source of much speculation before the revelation of a tragic illness put what might have been a bright future in jeapardy.

Following Sharon’s stroke, the future for Kadima looks pretty bleak. But although his personal prospects are brighter, the future for Kennedy’s Liberal Democrats looks almost as bad after he announced his drinking problem and called a leadership contest. The drink revalation is not fatal, but the leadership contest will be, and that’s bad news for the party.

Kennedy may not have the outlook of a potential prime minister, and some of the more power hungry Lib Dems may not like that, but the party has a record number of MPs, frankly far more than they deserve. Kennedy is better than his party and while he may not be telling his party to prepare for power, he could do a lot to keep the Tories getting their claws on his seats.

Cameron must realise his party will never gain power unless the number of Lib Dem seats is more than halved, and he’s kept his focus on regaining the centre ground – it’s often been the Lib Dem’s he’s targeted rather than labour. He may not have designed this situation, but the Lib Dem infighting is his dream come true.