'I am health spokesman. I would have known if our leader was fond of a drink'

The IoS interview: Evan Harris Liberal Democrat health spokesman

If politics is showbusiness for ugly people then the Liberal Democrats are desperately seeking the Liz Hurley effect.

Like Ms Hurley, Charles Kennedy's party is keen to catch the eye. And rather like wearing a frock held together with jumbo safety pins, they don't care if the public likes what they see, as long as they get noticed.

The party's health spokesman Dr Evan Harris concedes there is a long way to go to shed his party's "nice and cuddly and somewhere in the middle" image. Or what the party's detractors more harshly describe as irrelevance now that all talk of a Lib-Lab pact has been drowned out by two resounding Labour election victories.

While the Lib Dems moan that they only get 7 per cent of television and newspaper coverage but almost a quarter of the vote, it is unlikely that the party leader would agree with his health spokesman's view that "all publicity is good publicity".

Mr Kennedy's brush with Newsnight's frontman Jeremy Paxman – an extraordinary intrusion into Mr Kennedy's private life and drinking habits – has not, however, tarnished his standing among colleagues. And, according to Dr Harris, it was as unfounded as it was uncharitable. "I am the health spokesman of the party and no one has ever discussed with me those questions, which is why I dismissed them.

"Westminster is a gossipy place. I would have got to hear about it because I get to hear about everybody else's ailments. It's rubbish."

He scoffs, too, at any suggestion of an internal campaign to oust Mr Kennedy, adding, however, that he would rather the focus was on the party's policies than its image or leader alone. But he concedes: "Most of our MPs are here because, just like Paddy [Ashdown] but in a different way, Charles is popular with the public – and he's not done it through spin or close friends in the media."

Honesty is a word that comes up a lot these days in Lib Dem circles. They genuinely believe that an honest leader, honest taxation policies, honesty about their sometimes disparate views, will win the day.

And despite their inability to wheedle promised electoral and constitutional reform out of a reluctant Tony Blair, they have made some inroads, particularly against the Tories. Dr Harris admits the Lib Dems face a "difficult task": "Our job is to make people realise there is a third alternative ... to make sure that people don't look at the Tories and say 'Oh my God, we have to vote Labour.'"

It is with some pride that Dr Harris points to conference agenda items on mental health, trafficking of women, maritime piracy, pornography laws and other items that might, it could be argued, distract a political party from the mainstream issues of the day.

"We are criticised for having policies on these areas but we can't do anything about it. But then the same was said on cannabis. We were the first party to ever debate cannabis and drugs policy. Everyone said it was freaky and not mainstream but we realised it was central to issues of public health and crime. We were proved right. But we didn't get any credit for it, of course."

It remains to be seen whether Dr Harris and the Liberal Democrats will get any credit for their new health policy, based on a greater commitment to public health. The Lib Dems are unworried about the "nanny state" tag that has prevented the Labour Government intervening strongly on sexual health, alcohol and addiction. It is an area in which Dr Harris wants to see more done.

But he believes the Government should do less when it comes to the NHS. His advice is to "leave well alone", to refrain from regularly changing its structures and to let local managers run the show. He wants to see money going into the "less glamorous" social services, care for the elderly, GP surgeries and mental health care rather than be "spent on shiny machines that go beep".

A dazzling smile might work for wannabe starlets. It will undoubtedly take more to shift the fortunes of a trailing political party. But at least it's a start.

Biography

1965: Born in Sheffield. Father was Professor Frank Harris, Dean of Medicine at Leicester University. Educated at Liverpool Blue Coat Secondary School.

1984: ESU scholarship to Harvard High School.

1985: Scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford, to study medicine.

1991-97: Hospital doctor in Liverpool and Oxford. Public health registrar.

1997: Elected Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon.

1999: Front bench spokesman on higher education, science and women's issues.

2001: Liberal Democrat health spokesman.