As the Party's only group existing to promote economic reform, you would expect us to endorse the candidacy of our President of the past five years, Chris Huhne. Your expectations are met.

This is a personal message from ALTER's Chair, Cllr Tony Vickers but comes to you with the support of ALTER's Executive Committee.

Chris has probably done more to impress the media and the wider public of our Party's 'green' credentials than any other MP. Together with Vince Cable (another supporter of LVT who surprised me by claiming to 'belong' to ALTER at this year's Conference) he has 'branded' the Green Tax Switch as a serious policy tool for tackling Climate Change, to the extent that the Tories now claim they invented it!

When the Planet could be facing melt-down in our childrens' lifetimes, what matters is "The Economy Stupid!" as a US President famously said. If our future isn't 'green', then its scary. Sure, the Home Office brief is important to voters - but if Lib Dems are to actually achieve a share of power at the national level, which must be our aim, the key to being actually able to solve the nation's problems lies in economics and not in immigration policy, policing or the courts. Having a Leader who offers us Hope and real solutions, who is 'media-savvy' but not too media friendly, who can draw on experience of life before and beyond politics - and has actually led something before! (not just 'something' but a City firm of international financial analysts) - seems to be what we need at this time.

It is not just that Chris has loyally supported the radical economic analysis that goes with LVT. Much more importantly for the Party, of the two men we can choose from Chris has clearly got the more powerful grasp of the most important aspect of government: economics. When we have a Government led by perhaps the most formidable Chancellor for 70 years, it is essential that our Leader can match - if not exceed - Gordon Brown's economic credentials in the Commons and among the Westminster chattering classes. The first job of our new Leader is to convince the wider electorate that the ex-Chancellor has no economic clothes.

It puzzles me therefore that Chris is seemingly not seen as the obvious choice for Leader at this time. Most organisations would give their eye teeth to have him at the helm. His age and CV are perfect for any CEO job. He stood last time and is therefore better known to the electorate that matters (Party members) and moreover he did pretty well and has a ready-made campaign team.

Nick Clegg, a younger man who looks remarkably like another Opposition Leader already in the Commons (!), was given front runner status by the media before the starting gun has been fired, I find that puzzling and slightly disconcerting. It was reassuring to learn that Nick mentioned Site Value Rating in a televised cross-party discussion soon after nominations closed, because ALTER has never had a response from him on the subject previously. Perhaps that shows hoe mainstream our ideas now are in the Party. Also many MPs and other Lib Dems I respect (including ALTER Vice President Edward Davey MP) have come out for Clegg.

But Nick was still working for his first degree in 1989 when Chris was writing Real World Economics for Penguin - a mass readership for the subject, if there is such a thing. Chris has an almost unrivalled grasp of the links between economics and politics that appear in every aspect of local service delivery and 'greening' society. Nick can deliver the right words on economics but to my mind lacks the necessary 'gravitas' in it. As Chris has said, Nick will make an excellent Leader of our Party - one day.

So whilst we ought to wait to hear what each has to say directly to us in their manifesto and - if possible, at a hustings before we finally make up our minds, ALTER members in particular ought to be asking one question first of all: "Why NOT Huhne?"

For want of an answer thus far in the campaign, I'm left to conclude that Chris is right when he says "don't expect a comfortable ride with me as your Leader". Some people in the cosy Westminster circle of the Party may not want Real World Economics to intrude upon their political lives. But the more I hear scary stories about how the world's leaders are not taking climate change seriously, and of impending 'credit crunch', the more I am convinced that what our Party and our country need is a Leader who can demonstrate with comfort, sincerity and utmost believability that only radical economic reforms will secure for humanity a Liberal future - or any future at all, never mind how well the police perform.