LEADING Liberal Democrats from the York area have called for a properly contested leadership election, following the controversial departure of Charles Kennedy.

Phil Willis, the Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, has said he would seriously consider standing for leader himself if no other candidate came forward to challenge Sir Menzies Campbell - but that was before home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten indicated today that he might mount a challenge.

Mr Willis, who lives at Rufforth, near York, said it was essential for the party's 70,000 members to have a chance to elect the next leader, rather than seeing only one candidate putting his name forward for a "coronation".

He said such a contest would be part of an open debate about the future of the party and its policies. Mr Willis said he "had been and remained a Kennedy loyalist", saying of Mr Kennedy, who was forced to resign after admitting having a drink problem: "I don't think he deserved to be treated that way."

Andrew Waller, a York councillor who has been the Lib Dems' candidate in the city at the last three general elections, backed Mr Willis's offer to stand for the leadership to ensure there was a contest.

He said it was "very sad" that Mr Kennedy's time as leader had ended in this way, but it was now essential for a contested election for a new leader to be held, giving all members an opportunity to have their say.

York's Lib Dem council leader, Coun Steve Galloway, said: "I think Charles Kennedy was an outstanding leader. He increased the number of seats and the size of the vote, and was supportive to us in York, particularly during the campaign leading up to the last council elections."

He said he had no fears that the party might suffer long-term damage from the recent crisis, saying there was some evidence that the high profile it had given to the party meant voters were more likely to remember it. He said all political parties went through leadership turmoil at some stage, as had the Tories fairly recently. "I am quite relaxed about it," he said.

Diana Wallis, the Lib Dem MEP for Yorkshire & the Humber, spoke of her anger at the way Mr Kennedy had been treated. Some Parliamentary colleagues had "effectively hounded him out of office and have completely violated the values which our party has stood for".

But she said it was now important for the party to attempt to pull itself together.

"Otherwise, there is a danger of a civil war breaking out."

Updated: 10:26 Tuesday, January 10, 2006