Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable is to step down as an MP at the next general election.
Sir Vince has represented Twickenham since 1997 and served as business secretary in the coalition government.
After losing his south-west London constituency seat at the 2015 general election, the 76-year-old regained it in the snap poll two years later.
He took over Lib Dem leadership from Tim Farron, continuing to lead the party in its opposition to Brexit.
When Sir Vince stepped down as leader in May, Mr Farron said his legacy was to have saved his party from possible extinction after its election trauma in 2015.
Under his leadership, the Lib Dems witnessed a grassroots revival, with the party taking control of a host of councils during May’s local elections.
He was replaced by East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson after she defeated Sir Ed Davey in a leadership election last month.
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: “Vince has enjoyed a fantastic parliamentary career in the Liberal Democrats and representing the people of Twickenham.
“He will continue to serve as the MP until the next election, whenever that may be.”
Sarah Olney tweeted:
Thank you @vincecable for your dedication to the people of Twickenham & Richmond and to @LibDems. I'm pleased to hear you'll continue to oppose Brexit & to stand up for local residents. When the time comes, it'll be sad to see you step down. 🧡 https://t.co/gDtwCdYdRR
— Sarah Olney (@sarahjolney1) August 28, 2019
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6 Comments
He will be remembered uniquely for his comment when deputising as leader, that the Prime Minister had gone from “Stalin to Mr Bean”.
That was about Gordon Brown, one of the heavyweight members of New Labour.
Not surprising, but still a significant moment. The party owes Vince a huge debt of gratitude, and he has certainly earned a bit of a rest. Shame this news will be drowned out a little by the other events of the day. But – like Norman Lamb – Vince is obviously clearing the way for a successor to be selected in time for a snap election.
Will Sarah Olney try and switch to Twickenham now? Will Chucka have a go? Big decisions….
Great shame but, as you say TonyH, not unexpected. Many, many, many thanks Vince, you will be sorely missed.
I wonder if Norman & Vince chose this moment to announce their departure because of the increasing likelihood of a General Election within the next few months and the need to choose replacement PPC’s within a rapidly-shrinking timeframe.
My recollection is that Twickenham has adopted female only shortlist.
With it all happening we should nevertheless not forget to thank Sir Vince for all he has done for us. What a truly great Prime Minister Vince would have been!
It’s interesting to see that the Conservative Home website has brief biographies of people who are on the shortlist for parliamentary seats. I know that we don’t always have masses of people standing, but is this something that we should consider? It would help to make the whole process a little more transparent.