IN his relatively short spell at the helm of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy has proved himself to be a shrewd and accomplished politician.

Courageously, he has stuck to his guns on the issues of tax and Europe, and earned credit from the general public for doing so.

He has also managed to break away from the Paddy Ashdown mould, principally by distancing himself from the Labour Party and Tony Blair.

But, by actively encouraging voters to switch their true allegiance at the next General Election to keep the Conservatives out of office, he is cosying up to Labour more than his predecessor ever did.

His carefully conceived plan to put clear water between his party and Tony Blair's is destroyed at a stroke.

It is reasonable for senior politicians to accept that tactical voting happens and to condone it.

It is unreasonable, however, for them actively to encourage it.

Tactical voting must be left to individual choice, not party instruction.

It is important that the Liberals and Labour are not seen to be in cahoots to conspire to rig results in marginal constituencies.

If they are, then they may well find that their attempts to manipulate our democracy will backfire on them. People do not like being told how they have to vote.

It is ironic that Mr Kennedy's party is the most ardent advocate of proportional representation and the keenest critic of the "first-past-the-post" system.

Our system of voting has its shortcomings. But tactical voting exaggerates the weakness of first-past-the-post and fails to represent voters' true wishes.

If we are to believe the opinion polls and Mr Kennedy has his way, then Labour will get more seats than it deserves, the Liberals will get more seats than they deserve, and the Conservatives will get fewer seats than they deserve.

That is not the kind of democracy and fair representation the Liberals have been advocating for most of their history.

Another landslide victory for Labour, furnished by tactical voting, will hardly encourage Mr Blair to introduce the kind of electoral reform the Liberals seek.

Mr Kennedy will be well advised to stick to the founding principles of his party, and allow the British people the opportunity to vote according to their conscience and not according to the rules of some Lib-Lab hatched plot.