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Lib Dem leadership hopeful Norman Lamb hopes to repeat the success of his beloved Norwich City and lead his party back to the political premier league.

The Canaries flew into the top flight last month with a 2-0 play-off final victory over Middlesbrough at Wembley.

The season-ticket-holding former Health Minister was in the stand to toast his team’s triumph - and now, he wants Norwich’s promotion to inspire him to one of his own: Lib Dem leader.

Mr Lamb said: “I would apply the lessons of Alex Neil, our manager, who has shown brilliant leadership in taking a group of people who were under-performing and making them into champions. It was a remarkable achievement.”

It has been an emotional month for Mr Lamb. He was one of only eight Lib Dem MPs who clung onto their seats as voters wreaked electoral carnage on the party.

His majority in North Norfolk was slashed from 11,600 to 4,000 and his friend Nick Clegg tearfully quit as Lib Dem leader, before Mr Lamb cheered Norwich to the Premiership 18 days later.

Then, last week, former party chief Charles Kennedy died aged 55, plunging the party into mourning.

“It’s been very traumatic - the loss of seats, the loss of a liberal voice, the tragic loss of Charles Kennedy - so it’s been very tough,” said Mr Lamb.

In the aftermath of the election defeat, Mr Lamb decided to fight for the Lib Dems’ top prize.

(Image: Laurence Griffiths)

He is running against former party president and bookies’ favourite Tim Farron who, unlike Mr Lamb, did not hold a government job.

In contrast, ex-employment solicitor Mr Lamb, 57, was an advisor to Mr Clegg, a government whip and served in two ministries.

But, speaking in Bristol, he denied being the “continuity candidate”.

“I know that’s what will be claimed against me, but I think it’s about stepping up to the plate,” he said.

“I am my own person and I am categorically and fundamentally a liberal.”

His challenge is to convince party members his coalition experience is a help rather than a hindrance.

“I will always believe that we did the right thing. We acted in the national interest,” he insisted.

(Image: Daily Mirror / Rowan Griffiths)

“Ultimately, you have to ask yourself, ‘Is political survival or the national interest more important?’ However tough it is, every politician should ultimately try to act in the interests of the country you serve.”

Pressed if five years of power was worth the May 7 meltdown, he replied: “The answer must be ‘yes’. We had to do it. Tories on their own would have been a disaster.”

Outlining his pitch for the party crown, Mr Lamb said if he was taking the Lib Dems back into power, he would demand voting reform without a referendum.

And he highlighted two core beliefs he says prove his commitment to liberalism: legalising cannabis and allowing assisted dying in some circumstances.

“Assisted dying is of profound importance to many people - the right to be able to die with dignity at a moment of your choosing, if you want to,” he said.

(Image: Daily Mirror / Rowan Griffiths)

“Of course it should be the individual who makes the decision.”

He also wants cannabis legalised so it can be taxed and regulated.

While married father-of-two Mr Lamb has never taken drugs - “I am one of those boring individuals; I’ve always been a bit scared of them” - he has seen first-hand the damage they can cause.

In March, he revealed his 27-year-old music producer son Archie fought a secret battle with drink and drugs.

He spoke out after a video emerged of Archie, who discovered pop star Tinchy Stryder, apparently snorting cocaine.

Mental health campaigner Mr Lamb believes legalising cannabis could make it safer, saying it “is vastly less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco, yet we lightly regulate those two”.

Critics suggest the policy is designed to win back young voters who deserted the party after the Lib Dems supported trebling university tuition fees to £9,000 - despite previously pledging not to hike costs.

But he insisted: “I’m not doing this to curry favour with young people. I’m doing it because it’s fundamental to my values.”

Asked why he would be a better leader than Mr Farron, Mr Lamb highlighted his “record of actually having fought causes and won them on the national stage, and having achieved solid, liberal advances in government”.

He added: “That’s enabled me to build a credibility among others.”

In what could be seen as a thinly-veiled swipe at his rival, who two months ago claimed the coalition would tarnish the party for a generation, Mr Lamb urged Lib Dems to “hold our heads high”, adding: “You can talk or you can do.”

He said he didn’t “want to be a protest party carping on the sidelines”, saying: “What’s the point of a political party if it doesn’t seek to implement the things that it believes in in government? That must be what we’re about.”