Sir Vince Cable Takes The Reins

Sir Vince Cable has replaced Tim Farron as leader of the Liberal Democrats after running unopposed for the top job in his party. Sir Vince, who won back his old parliamentary seat of Twickenham said that he would ‘serve as long as I need to’, stressing that he did not intend to be a ‘caretaker’ leader. At 74, the former Business Secretary becomes the oldest party leader in the House of Commons, and is just two years younger than his predecessor Paddy Ashdown, who led the party between 1988 and 1999.
 
After being announced as leader, Sir Vince heaped praise on Tim Farron, saying that he had rebuilt party membership to record levels after taking the helm at a tough moment for the Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, Tim Farron said his successor would be a ‘strong and cable’ leader (a pun worthy of the morning round-up but I would feel too guilty plagiarising).
 
Sir Vince comes in a fraught time for the Lib Dems, who’s electoral results - while an improvement on their dire 2015 numbers - still sit well behind where they have been over the past few decades. Under his leadership, the party will continue to try to occupy the pro-EU ground, and key to this will be to push for a second referendum once the final terms of a deal have been hammered out. Speaking to supporters yesterday, he said that ‘voters should be asked, “Do you wish to accept what is coming down the track, jumping off the cliff and hoping there’s a tree to catch you, or do we want to stay within the European Union?”’