Campaign of fear beat us, says Cable
VINCE CABLE left the count in Twickenham as dawn broke today, describing the result as a “terrible night all over”.
He found out he had been beaten by Conservative Tania Mathias at about 4.30am. It made him one of the highest profile Liberal Democrat casualties.
Mr Cable, who turns 72 tomorrow, has held Twickenham since 1997 and was fighting the seat for the sixth time.
The tension on the Business Secretary’s face was clear as the results were read out.
Afterwards he thanked his supporters, saying: “We were hit by a very well organised national campaign based on people’s fear of a Labour government and the Scottish nationalists.
“It’s been a marvellous experience and a great honour being an MP for this constituency. Unfortunately this has been a terrible night for our party all over, but I’m absolutely sure that we’re going to bounce back both nationally and locally.”
After whoops and cheers from her support- ers, Dr Mathias, 50, a local councillor and NHS ophthalmologist, called Mr Cable an “amazing local MP who has served Twickenham for 18 years”, which was an “amazing feat of public service”.
Mr Cable was defending a majority of more than 12,000 and the Tories threw huge resources at their bid to unseat him. Dr Mathias’s majority is 2,017. Mr Cable was supported by his wife Rachel Smith and party supporters as he left the count at Richmond College, across the ro a d from the Twickenham Stoop, home to the Harlequins rugby team. The group walked to the waiting car in silence as reporters tried to speak to Mr Cable. He said simply “good night” as he was driven away.