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I never could be a partisan leader - a man of one idea.

What my future will not be is active politics in the Liberal Democrat party.

I didn't become leader to transform the Liberal Democrats into an enlarged form of the Electoral Reform Society. It's not the be all and end all for us. There are other very, very key ambitions in politics, not least social mobility and life chances, that I care about as passionately if not more.

If elected, I would not be the mere president of a party - I would endeavor to act independent of party domination and should feel bound to administer the government untrammeled by party schemes.

I believe I would be a very strong general-election candidate.

I thought I could do something different from any Conservative prime minister before me. But I couldn't.

I would love to be president. I just concluded I was not the best person to carry forward the Republican torch.

I could never go into politics, because I'm far too impatient and I'd want to be a dictator, albeit a benevolent one... I would hope.

I will certainly not join politics. I would like to be remembered as a clean businessman who has not partaken in any twists and turns beneath the surface, and one who has been reasonably successful.

I would consider myself a rather staunch libertarian.