LibDems rally round Sir Menzies

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As the party kicked off its conference in Brighton, Sir Menzies faced public sniping at his performance from senior figures and a series of dire opinion polls.

But his top team rallied around the under-fire leader, insisting he had the overwhelming backing of his party and there was not the "slightest" chance of an attempt to oust him.

Sir Menzies himself struck a defiant note by spelling out that he would stay at the helm of the party until the next general election "and beyond".

"I've made it clear I will lead the party through this parliament, into the general election, and into the parliament beyond," he told BBC1's Andrew Marr programme. "Nobody should be in any doubt about that, in television studios or elsewhere."

The furore around Sir Menzies' prospects grew after Lord Rodgers, the former Lib Dem leader in the upper house, expressed "disappointment" at his performance, and voiced fears that the party was "suffering a lack of energy and an absence of direction". Meanwhile, Linda Jack, a member of the party's policy committee, lambasted him as "over-promoted".

A poll of 130 Liberal Democrat constituency association chairmen - including those of all the party's current 62 MPs - found that nearly a third were not convinced Sir Menzies was doing well.

Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg - touted in many quarters as a replacement for Sir Menzies - sprang to his defence, and "absolutely ruled out" challenging him.

"I think people have got, frankly, short memories. I think they forget that 18 months ago or so the Liberal Democrats went through an extraordinarily turbulent period, very, very difficult," he told GMTV. "I think it would be foolish in the extreme for anyone within the Liberal Democrats to start raising serious question marks about Menzies' performance, which I think has been excellent."

Lib Dem President Simon Hughes - who is widely thought to have entertained doubts over Sir Menzies in the past - also insisted the party was "united", while deputy leader Vincent Cable claimed the party's position had not deteriorated markedly over the recent year.