John Vincent Cable, generally known as Vince Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician, and was the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats until the election of Nick Clegg. He is Member of Parliament for Twickenham and has been the Liberal Democrats' main economic spokesperson since 2003, having previously served as Chief Economist for the oil company Shell from 1995 to 1997. He was elected as deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons in March, 2006. He was acting leader of the Liberal Democrats on 15 October 2007 following Sir Menzies Campbell's resignation, but announced soon after that he would not be a candidate in the leadership election.

Early life and education

Cable was born in York and attended Nunthorpe Grammar School. He went on to study Natural Sciences and Economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and was elected President of the Cambridge Union in 1965. He later received a PhD in Economics from the University of Glasgow.

Cable lectured for a time at the University of Glasgow and in addition lectured London School of Economics students. From 1966 to 1968 he was a Treasury Finance Officer to the Kenyan Government, and married Dr Olympia Rebelo; they subsequently had three children. Dr Rebelo died of breast cancer in 2001. In the 1970s he was Special Advisor to John Smith when the latter was Industry Secretary. He became Chief Economist for Shell in 1995.

Political career

At university, Cable was a member of the Liberal Party but joined the Labour Party after graduation. In 1970, he unsuccessfully fought Glasgow Hillhead for Labour, and later became a Glasgow councillor. In 1979 he sought the Labour nomination for Hampstead, losing to Ken Livingstone, who was unsuccessful in taking the seat.

In 1981, he joined the newly-created Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was the SDP/Liberal parliamentary candidate for his home city of York in both the 1983 and 1987 general elections. In 1992 he lost in his bid to unseat Conservative MP Toby Jessel, but won the seat of Twickenham at the 1997 General Election, and increased his majority in the elections of 2001 and 2005.

In 2004, Cable contributed to the Orange Book and is identified with the economic liberal wing of the party. He believes that the Liberal Democrats should stand for "fairer taxes, not higher taxes", and many have seen this as a pitch for centre-right voters who did not support the Lib Dem's proposal at the 2005 general election to increase taxes on those earning over £100,000 (a policy which Cable himself is understood to be uncomfortable with).

Prior to the 2005 Liberal Democrat party conference, Cable did not rule out the possibility that the Lib Dems might form a coalition government with the Conservative Party in the event of a hung parliament at the next general election. Then party-leader Charles Kennedy said that the party would remain an "independent political force".

In late 2005/early 2006, Cable presented Charles Kennedy a letter signed by eleven out of the twenty-three frontbenchers, including himself, expressing a lack of confidence in Kennedy's leadership of the Liberal Democrats. On 5 January 2006, due to pressure from his frontbench team and an ITN News report documenting his alcoholism, Charles Kennedy announced a leadership election in which he pledged to stand for re-election. However he resigned on 7 January. Cable passed over the opportunity to run for the party leadership himself, instead supporting Sir Menzies Campbell's bid.

Deputy Leader

Since being elected deputy leader in March 2006, Cable has continued to rise in status within the Party. He has also won plaudits for his repeated warnings and campaigns on the high level of personal debt in Britain. His was a significant voice of criticism during the Northern Rock crisis, calling for the nationalisation of the bank, capitalising on the claimed indecisiveness of both the Labour Government and Conservative opposition on the issue.

Acting Leader

With the resignation of Menzies Campbell as party leader on 15 October 2007, Vincent Cable as Deputy Leader automatically succeeded him as party leader pending a leadership election. Asked on Channel 4 News that day by Jon Snow whether he would be a candidate for the leadership, he refused to rule himself in or out at such an early stage, but a few days later ruled himself out. Cable received significant acclaim during his tenure as acting party leader, with particular praise for his strong performances at Prime Minister's Questions. He was popular in the party and media for his attacks on the government's record over Northern Rock, HMRC's loss of 25 million individuals' child benefit data and the party funding scandal surrounding David Abrahams' secret donations to the Labour Party.

Cable attracted positive media attention for a joke at PMQs describing Gordon Brown's "remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from Stalin to Mr Bean, creating chaos out of order rather than order out of chaos", called by The Economist, "the single best line of Gordon Brown's premiership". This quip was prompted by the scandal about secret funding to the Labour Party.

Economic crisis

Cable is credited by some with prescience of the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009. In November 2003, Cable asked Gordon Brown, then Chancellor, "Is not the brutal truth that … the growth of the British economy is sustained by consumer spending pinned against record levels of personal debt, which is secured, if at all, against house prices that the Bank of England describes as well above equilibrium level?" Brown replied, "As the Bank of England said yesterday, consumer spending is returning to trend. The Governor said:'there is no indication that the scale of debt problems have… risen markedly in the last five years.' He also said that the fraction of household income used up in debt service is lower than it was then."

In his book The Storm, Cable writes "The trigger for the current global financial crisis was the US mortgage market and, indeed, the scale of improvident and unscrupulous lending on that side of the Atlantic dwarfs into insignificance the escapades of our own banks." In an interview about the book, Cable was asked whether he had warned about this. Cable replied, "No, I didn’t. That’s quite true. … But you’re quite right, and one of the problems of being a British MP is that you do tend to get rather parochial and I haven’t been to the States for years and years, so I wouldn’t claim to have any feel for what’s been going on there."

Speaking about the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in fallout from the credit crunch in September 2008, Cable labelled the hedge funds which profit from short-selling as "masters of the universe".

Cable has also been vocal over the bonus culture in the banking system. He has called for bonuses to all bank employees to be frozen.

Expenses

A Twickenham resident, Vince Cable commutes by train into central London daily and so claims the 'London Supplement' instead of the Additional Costs Allowance. However, the Telegraph in May 2009 reported that he had been unaware that he was entitled to the London Supplement and so in 2004 wrote to the Fees Office to ask if he could receive retrospective payments for 2002-03 and 2003-04. The Fees Office refused the request, informing Cable that these accounts were already closed .

When overall MP allowances are ranked, Mr. Cable came in 568th for 2007-08 (out of 645 MPs). The Daily Telegraph also noted that he did not take a recent 2.33 per cent salary rise.

Personal life

In 2004 he married Rachel Wenban Smith. When appearing on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme in January 2009, Cable revealed that he wears the wedding rings from both of his marriages.

A keen ballroom dancer, Cable has expressed his desire to win the BBC's hit TV show, Strictly Come Dancing.

See also

• Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team

Bibliography

• The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What it Means Vincent Cable (Atlantic Books, 2009) ISBN 1848870574
• The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism edited by David Laws and Paul Marshall; contributions by Vincent Cable and others (Profile Books, 2004) ISBN 1-86197-797-2
• Regulating Modern Capitalism (Centre for Reform Papers) Vincent Cable (Centre for Reform, 2002) ISBN 1-902622-36-7
• Commerce (Liberal Democrat Consultation Papers) Vincent Cable (Liberal Democrat Publications, 2002) ISBN 1-85187-688-X
• Globalization: Rules and Standards for the World Economy (Chatham House Papers) Vincent Cable, Albert Bressand (Thomson Learning, 2000) ISBN 1-85567-350-9
• Globalisation & Global Governance Vincent Cable (Thomson Learning, 1999) ISBN 0-8264-6169-7
• Preparing for EMU: A Liberal Democrat Response (Centre for Reform Papers) Vincent Cable (Centre for Reform, 1999) ISBN 1-902622-06-5
• China and India: Economic Reform and Global Integration Vincent Cable (Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995) ISBN 1-899658-00-9
• Global Superhighways: The Future of International Telecommunications Policy (International Economics Programme Special Paper) Vincent Cable, Catherine Distler (Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995) ISBN 0-905031-97-0
• The World's New Fissures Vincent Cable (Demos, 1995) ISBN 1-898309-35-3
• Trade Blocs: The Future of Regional Integration edited by Vincent Cable and David Henderson (The Brookings Institution, 1994) ISBN 0-905031-81-4
• Commerce of Culture: Experience of Indian Handicrafts, Vincent Cable (Lancer International, 1990) ISBN 81-7062-004-X
• Developing with Foreign Investment edited by Vincent Cable and Bishnodat Persaud (Routledge, 1987) ISBN 0-7099-4825-5
• Economics and the Politics of Protection: Some Case Studies of Industries (World Bank Staff Working Papers Number 569) Vincent Cable (World Bank, 1984) ISBN 0-8213-0199-3
• Education and Social Action Programming for Cable: Conference Report edited by Vincent Thompson (Council for Educ. Technology, 1984) ISBN 0-86184-131-X
• World Textile Trade and Production Trends Vincent Cable, Betsy Baker (Economist Intelligence Unit, 1983) ISBN 0-86218-084-8
• Case Studies in Development Economics Vincent Cable (Heinemann Educ., 1982) ISBN 0-435-33937-0
• The Role of Handicrafts Exports: Problems and Prospects Based on Indian Experience (ODI Working Paper) Vincent Cable (Overseas Development Institute, 1982) ISBN 0-85003-086-2
• British Electronics and Competition with Newly Industrialising Countries Vincent Cable, Jeremy Clarke (Overseas Development Institute, 1981) ISBN 0-85003-076-5
• Evaluation of the Multifibre Arrangement and Negotiating Options Vincent Cable (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1981) ISBN 0-85092-204-6
• British Interests and Third World Development Vincent Cable (Overseas Development Institute, 1980) ISBN 0-85003-070-6
• Britain's Pattern of Specialization in Manufactured Goods With Developing Countries and Trade Protection (World Bank Staff Working Paper No 425/8 Oct) Vincent Cable, Ivonia Rebelo (World Bank, 1980) ISBN 0-686-36204-7
• World Textile Trade and Production Vincent Cable (Economist Intelligence Unit, 1979) ISBN 0-900351-85-3
• South Asia's Exports to the EEC: Obstacles and Opportunities Vincent Cable, Ann Weston (Overseas Development Institute, 1979) ISBN 0-85003-068-4
• World Textile Trade and Production Vincent Cable (Economist Intelligence Unit, 1979) ISBN B0000EGG8M
• Import Controls: The Case Against Vincent Cable (Fabian Society, 1977) ISBN 0-7163-1335-9
• Whither Kenyan Emigrants? Vincent Cable (Fabian Society, 1969) ISBN 0-7163-2018-5

References

1. Q&A - The Guardian, published 2009-4-25. Retrieved 2009-6-30.
2. Vince Cable: Acting like a leader BBC News, 30 November 2007
3. Liberal Democrat leaders | The final straight The Economist, 29 November 2007
4. Interest Rates HC Deb 13 November 2003 vol 413 cc396-400
5. Dominic Lawson News Review interview: Vince Cable The Sunday Times 22 March 2009
6. BBC Brown 'very angry' about bonuses Monday, 9 February 2009
7. The Daily Telegraph, 13 May 2009
8. Lib Dem Cable reveals dance dream BBC News, 30 November 2007

External links

• Dr Vincent Cable MP official site
• Liberal Democrats - Vincent Cable MP official profile
• Twickenham Liberal Democrats constituency site
• ePolitix - Vincent Cable
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Vincent Cable MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Vincent Cable MP
• The Public Whip - Vincent Cable MP voting record
• BBC News - Vincent Cable profile 15 March 2005
• Vince Cable doesn’t claim for second home but asked for backdated London Supplement Telegraph
• Gold standard?. Third Way Magazine. (Interview conducted on May 11, 2009.)
• Vince Cable: Beneath the halo
• News Review interview: Vince Cable (Dominic Lawson)