Byres Road on a sunny late summer morning and Charles Kennedy was in his element.

As a former rector of Glasgow University, the trendy thoroughfare in Glasgow's West End is one of his favourite stomping grounds and he was relishing his campaign walkabout.

His itinerary, as he walked with balloon-bearing No campaigners and a horde of reporters and camera crews from Dumbarton Road to a street stall near Hillhead subway station, gave the game away.

First stop: George Mewes cheese shop where he sampled a hunk of red leicester and chatted with Mr Mewes himself.

Despite Chat Show Charlie's friendly banter, the cheesemonger appeared unmoved. "I'm a maybe," he admitted as the Kennedy show moved on. "I don't know yet."

The Highland Lib Dem MP and former party leader paused briefly at Peckham's deli but didn't linger.

It wasn't because he was too full of cheese, however, because his next stop was fancy cake shop, Patisserie Francoise.

Outside he was buttonholed by a passer-by wearing a No Thanks button. "Why has it taken so long for your campaign to get moving," he challenged Mr Kennedy.

"We're up and running now" was the message before Mr Kennedy tried to claim his new chum as a fellow Liberal. (Only to be told Margaret Thatcher was the best Prime Minister this country has ever had.)

On he went, attracting toots from car horns, finally arriving at a No street stall offering free pens and badges.

"It's pleasure to be out in the hallowed West End of Glasgow," he said. "The sun is shining on the righteous, by which I mean the Press corps."

Answering questions from the righteous, he said it was "entirely appropriate" for MPs to get more involved in the campaign and put the positive case for the UK.

But he insisted the message people were really listening too came from big business and captains of industry, many of which have spend the past 48 hours warning of economic risks from independence.

Describing himself as "a nationalistic Scot, not a Scottish nationalist," he also praised Gordon Brown's four-month timetable for agreeing more powers for Holyrood.

"I wish this had been done a year ago," he said. "It's an ambitious timetable but we have to stick to it. Everyone is going to have to compromise."

Would he throw his hat in the ring to chair the process. "No," he said firmly, pointing to Scots Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie as his nomination.