declared support for Simon Hughes. To BBC News 24, Vincent Cable said he would "do a very good job" as leader himself, but that he would "defer to" and support Campbell. John Hemming posts again on his blog to call for a contested election and reiterates that he was still contemplating standing following Kennedy's resignation. 8 January Charles Kennedy calls for the election for his successor to be contested so that party members could have "direct input", having been "shut out" from the decision on his fate. A BBC Survey indicated that Sir Menzies Campbell already had the backing of at least twenty-three of the sixty-two Liberal Democrat MPs. 9 January Hughes and Oaten widely reported to be considering standing. A second YouGov poll of 406 party members put Campbell on 49%, Hughes on 21% and Oaten on 13%. In a rare public intervention in Liberal Democrat internal affairs, former Leader Paddy Ashdown endorsed Campbell. Sir Menzies Campbell was set to make his first appearance as Acting Leader at 14:30 in the House of Commons. Oaten said he was "toying" with the idea of standing and would make an announcement either way on 10 January. He expressed the view that there should be a contest of some kind as party members were feeling "pretty excluded from the process so far". This was a change to his earlier suggestion that it might be better for the party to unite around a single candidate. Hughes said he would reveal his intentions within the week. Phil Willis said he would stand to challenge Campbell if no other candidates emerged as he felt party members should be involved. John Hemming was collecting nominations. At the end of the day Oaten dropped strong hints in an on camera interview that he would stand, citing heavy public support received. Newsnight reported that Oaten had stated he had the backing of the seven MPs necessarily to be formally nominated. Sir Menzies Campbell was elected chancellor of the University of St Andrews. 10 January Mark Oaten (MP for Winchester) formally declared that his intention to be a candidate. 11 January Chris Huhne is reported to have the support of five of the seven MPs required. Menzies Campbell's first performance as interim leader at Prime Minister's Questions receives lacklustre reviews when a question on headteacher vacancies backfires. The betting on him winning eases slightly, but he remains the favourite.