Four horse race

Four candidates have thrown their hat into the ring for the vacant position of Leader of the Lib-Dems.

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Unsurprisingly, Sir Menzies Cambell is acting Leader and was first to put himself in the mix. He has pledged to fight the next election to the left of new Labour. Well that won't be too difficult. The changes, or otherwise that Sir Menzies promises to intoduce pales into insignificance compared to the conundrum of how to pronounce his name, is it 'men-zees' or ming-is' ? Odds from VBS bookmakers - Evens.

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Mark Oaten, buoyed by the election of the Boy-king to lead the Tories thinks that as he has youth on his side, he is the ideal candidate. So maybe Boy-king mark 2 ! Odds - 5:1

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Simon Hughes, who lost out to Charles Kennedy in 1999's Leadership contest, and recent candidate for London Mayor dropped several hints before he came forward and said the he would also stand. and cites rising social inequalities between rich and poor as his main concern. Odds - 2:1

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Chris Huhne, 51, MP for Eastleigh (Chris who? to his rivals!) is the latest to join the race. He pledged low taxes, a green agenda and a radical programme to unite the party but vague on detail wich actually may endear him to the party members. However a rank outsider that could shorten odds. Odds - 25:1

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Like the Tories, the Lib-Dems are full of promises and devoid of policy.

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The race for the leadership of the Lib-Dems can be equated to four bald men fighting over a comb - they all want it, but it will turn out to be unimportant to the future prosperity of our nation.

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The prediction is that the Lib-Dems will be Minging all the way up to the next general election.