Vince Cable’s decision to speculate publicly about a post Nick Clegg leadership race is a significant moment. To be sure, saying ‘I wouldn’t exclude it’ about running for the job is a long way from launching an actual challenge. But it is not the answer that a politician gives if they want to stop all speculation.
There’s long been gossip at Westminster that Cable’s interest in the leadership has revived — and this interview appears to confirm that. It is worth remembering that Cable only didn’t run last time because he thought that the party wouldn’t pick another veteran as leader after the Ming Campbell disaster. So, there’s unfulfilled ambition there.
It is easy to envisage a scenario in which Clegg stands down and Cable takes over the leadership because he’s the candidate acceptable to both wings of the party — one can imagine both Tim Farron and Jeremy Browne serving under him — and because he’d be regarded as giving Lib Dem MPs the best chance of saving their seats.
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