He always seemed to me to be a natural Liberal, in spite of his route through Labour to reach the SDP. That impression has been reinforced by a personal tribute by long-term friend Andrew Page.
Current party leaders in the Commons and Lords have also responded: http://aberavonneathlibdems.blogspot.com/2020/01/lib-dems-pay-tribute-to-lord-robert.html
I shall remember him best for the part he played before the 1997 general election in establishing a common platform of reform with Labour. He was the Lib Dems' representative in talks with Labour's forward-thinking, but by many accounts prickly, Robin Cook. It was the perfect combination to produce an agreement which Paddy Ashdown and Tony Blair signed up to. In those heady days, we realised that the Conservatives were going to lose but the received wisdom was that Labour would have no more than a narrow majority. There were dreams of human rights legislation, electoral reform, House of Lords reform and a more positive attitude towards the EU. In the event, Labour had a landslide, did not need support - even moral - from the Lib Dems and only the Human Rights Act survived.
That image of the young Maclennan being impressed by the statue of Campbell-Bannerman will stay with me for a while. Where are the Maclennans of today and, more importantly, where are their rôle models?
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