Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Vince Cable pitches the Lib Dems as the only force in the centre ground

So Vince Cable is now the new Lib Dem leader, after no-else opposed the 74-year-old Twickenham MP for the party’s top job. Of course, in the Lib Dems the ‘top job’ is a little less powerful than in other parties, thanks to a spider’s web of structures that mean the leader can’t always do what he (or maybe one day she) wants.

But Cable clearly knows what he does want to do, which is to make up for the party’s miserable election campaign in which Tim Farron spent far too much time having to talk about gay sex, and the rest of his party spent far too much time trying to defend him. He doesn’t have the same problems as Farron when it comes to making complicated arguments about conservative religious beliefs and liberalism, but Cable has already managed to suggest he hails from a different era of politics by making clumsy comments about gender and race no longer being an issue in politics.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in