Campbell urged to be a 'pinstripe radical'

Sir Menzies Campbell has been urged by close advisers to take more risks, be more radical and take on the establishment in an attempt to revive the Liberal Democrats' fortunes.

An internal party strategy document, leaked to The Independent, says Sir Menzies should portray himself as "the pinstripe radical" to combat the threat to his party from a Brown-led Labour Party and David Cameron's Conservatives.

Greg Simpson, the Liberal Democrats' head of policy and research, says the party must become more "spikey". He told Sir Menzies: "We will need to leave our comfort zone to achieve this and in this there are risks, but I am convinced there is no success in politics without taking those risks.

"We need to promote that side of you that is rarely seen in the media, but is prevalent in private, in small meetings, when you are on the stump, and particularly what we have seen you achieve in your visits during the local elections ... 'the pinstripe radical'. "

There is no appetite in the party for any move to oust Sir Menzies. But some Liberal Democrats are worried that his personal ratings have dropped and that the party's media coverage is dominated by whether he will lead it into the next general election, as he is determined to do.

Sir Menzies is said to back the recommendations in the report, which are due to be discussed this weekend at a strategy session of 160 MPs and candidates in Wyboston, Bedfordshire. Colleagues say he has the "fight and stamina" for the battle ahead.

Although the 65-year-old QC might seem an unlikely anti-establishment figure, close allies want him to show more of his "hidden passion" as he speaks up for Britain's "forgotten people" on issues such as poverty.

Mr Simpson's report advises his leader not to underestimate Gordon Brown and not to overestimate Mr Cameron. He insists the Liberal Democrats are polling above the levels in the 1997-2001 parliament, would have held all their seats on the basis of last month's local elections and can be a stronger force after the next election. Hinting at the possibility of a hung parliament, he says the party's influence may increase "particularly over the legislative agenda".

He proposes a strategy of "hold, target and push" but admits a big breakthrough is unlikely by saying: "This will require significant management of the expectations of some of our prospective parliamentary candidates in lower priority seats." Mr Simpson says maintaining the party's position in "the liberal centre" will deliver results. But fighting Mr Brown and Mr Cameron "will require us to re-establish in the minds of voters the 'anti-establishment' core of our liberal philosophy.

"We will have to build in 'uniqueness' to maintain that space but there is no question of any decision of any deviation from our core themes - free, fair and green. We will have to develop a new front on social issues, such as the family -from a social liberal perspective - in order to compete and maintain a voice."

"Normal rules" will not apply at the next election, he says, because the combined share of the vote taken by Labour and the Tories has fallen. "Where previously, in general terms, we have been ignored by other parties nationally, in order for either to secure a significant or working majority, they will have to come after us for our share of the vote."