Vince Cable

Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade from 2010 to 2015. Cable studied natural science and economics at Cambridge, and after graduation was an Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellow working as a finance officer in the Kenya Treasury under President Jomo Kenyatta. He then lectured in economics at Glasgow University and obtained a PhD studying part-time. He worked in the Diplomatic Service; directed research at the ODI; was a Special Adviser to the Commonwealth Secretary-General; headed the international economics programme at Chatham House; and worked for Shell Group Planning, becoming Chief Economist. Politically, Cable was initially active in the Labour Party and served as a Glasgow City councillor in the early 1970s. He later served as special adviser to then-Trade Secretary John Smith. In 1982, he defected to the newly formed Social Democratic Party, which later merged with the Liberal Party to become the Liberal Democrats. After standing unsuccessfully for Parliament four times in Glasgow, York (twice) and Twickenham, he was elected for Twickenham in 1997. He was quickly appointed the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, and was later elected as Deputy Leader in 2006. Cable resigned from both of these positions in May 2010 after being appointed as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the coalition government. He lost his seat in 2015, although later regained it in 2017. Cable subsequently stood in the leadership election to replace Tim Farron, and was elected unopposed. In May 2019, Cable led the Liberal Democrats...