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Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable is to step down as an MP at the next election, the party has announced.
The news will spark a scramble for Cable’s Twickenham seat, with newly-defected Lib Dem MPs Chuka Umunna and Sarah Wollaston thought likely to be at the head of a long list of would-be candidates.
Despite falling briefly into Conservative hands from 2015-17, the south-west London constituency is regarded as one of the Lib Dems’ safest seats, with Sir Vince taking more than 50 per cent of the vote at the last election.
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Mr Umunna, who quit Labour in February to found The Independent Group only to defect again to the Lib Dems in June, is thought to be highly vulnerable to his former party in the Streatham seat which he has held since 2010.
A move to Twickenham, which has been Lib Dem since 1997 apart from the two-year period after the party’s electoral meltdown in 2015, would be seen as a way to find a more secure home for the party’s Treasury spokesman.
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Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the “March to Leave” in London
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The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension
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A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament
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Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament
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A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square
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Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square
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A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament
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A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament
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A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament
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Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament
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A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square
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The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament
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A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament
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Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy
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Brexit supporters march outside parliament
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Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London
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Brexit supporters protest outside parliament
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A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament
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A man holds satirical paintings of politicians
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An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London
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Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament
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A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament
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A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament
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A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament
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A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament
PA
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Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the “March to Leave” in London
AP
2/30
The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension
Reuters
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AP
4/30
Reuters
5/30
PA
6/30
Reuters
7/30
EPA
8/30
A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament
AFP/Getty
9/30
Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament
AFP/Getty
10/30
A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square
Getty
11/30
Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square
PA
12/30
A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament
EPA
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A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament
Reuters
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A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament
Getty
15/30
Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament
REUTERS
16/30
A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square
AP
17/30
The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament
Reuters
18/30
A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament
EPA
19/30
Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy
AFP/Getty
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Brexit supporters march outside parliament
AFP/Getty
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Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London
PA
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Brexit supporters protest outside parliament
AFP/Getty
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A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament
Getty
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A man holds satirical paintings of politicians
Reuters
25/30
An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London
Reuters
26/30
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament
Getty
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A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament
Reuters
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A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament
Getty
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A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament
AFP/Getty
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A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament
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Equally, Dr Wollaston is thought to have little hope of surviving an election in Totnes – an area which has returned Tory MPs since the 1920s – following her defection from the Conservatives to The Independent Group in February and her later move to the Lib Dems in August. The influential Commons Health Committee chair is thought likely to seek another seat before the poll, which must take place by June 2022 but could come as early as this autumn.
Sir Vince, 76, has served as MP for Twickenham since 1997, with a two-year break form 2015-17. He regained the seat in 2017 with a 9,762 majority and a 52.8 per cent share of the vote.
He was the party’s deputy leader under Sir Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg from 2006-10 and was business secretary in the coalition government from 2010-15, when he controversially oversaw the increase in university tuition fees and the sell-off of Royal Mail.
He was selected unopposed as party leader in 2017 after the resignation of Tim Farron, and served until July this year, handing over to Jo Swinson at a high point after the Lib Dems’ spectacular results in local and European elections.
A Lib Dem spokesperson 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.”
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