Cable: I could be the next Prime Minister
He claims Lib Dem majority is ‘plausible’
LIB Dem leader Sir Vince Cable reckons it is “perfectly plausible” that he could be the next Prime Minister. He claims his party could clean up amid Tory turmoil and Labour’s shift to the left. Despite having just 12 MPs, he said the Lib Dems could win a majority as a “serious party with a serious leader”. The 74-year-old said: “I am very confident talking about being an alternative Prime Minister.” Speaking at the party’s conference in Bournemouth, he told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I think it’s perfectly plausible.” Sir Vince added: “British politics is in a remarkable state of flux. You’ve got the Conservative Party in an open civil war – complete breakdown of discipline. “You’ve got the Labour Party in a suppressed civil war. They had a good election, and Corbyn is riding high, but under the surface there is enormous discontent about the extreme left. I, and my party, are the alternative.” Sir Vince said the Lib Dems needed to present themselves as a party of government, not just a voice of protest. He added: “Being a plucky third party is not my view. It’s got to be that we are a serious party with a serious leader who can run the country.” The former Business Secretary is positioning his party as the voice of Remain voters. He said Britain is “sleepwalking” towards a new economic crisis and is hooked on unsustainable debt. He also said a new approach is needed to prevent the economy being dragged into recession as Brexit approaches. Party home affairs spokesman Ed Davey later backed Sir Vince’s ambitions, adding: “If you put him up against Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn, I think the majority of people would rather have Vince in No10 because he comes with huge credibility, particularly on the economy.”