The Daily Telegraph

Cable the ‘granddad’ choice to lead Lib Dems, say rival’s allies

- By Jack Maidment

SIR VINCE CABLE is too old to be Liberal Democrat leader, allies of Jo Swinson, the frontrunne­r for the post, have claimed.

They insist the party must not go “from the dad to the granddad” when Tim Farron is replaced.

Senior party sources view Ms Swinson, who is yet to say that she will stand, as the overwhelmi­ng favourite to take over, with Mr Farron’s supporters expected to “swing behind” the MP for East Dunbartons­hire, who won her seat back from the SNP at the election.

Mr Farron announced his resignatio­n on Wednesday as he said it would be “impossible” to continue in the role while remaining “faithful to Christ”, after a bruising election campaign in which he was questioned repeatedly over his views on abortion and gay sex. Sir Vince, 74, the former health minister Norman Lamb and the former energy secretary Sir Ed Davey have all been floated as potential successors but it is the 37-year-old Ms Swinson, a former junior minister in the Coalition, who is seen by some within the party as Mr Farron’s “heir apparent”.

A senior party source suggested Sir Vince, the former business secretary who won back his Twickenham seat on June 8, would be ill-suited to re-energise the party after an underwhelm­ing set of election results. “I think this is a next generation thing,” the source said. “I don’t think you go from the dad to the granddad. You want a generation­al shift. The whole Farron apparatus... will pretty much swing behind Swinson.”

The only way for Sir Vince to secure the top job would be if Ms Swinson agreed to serve as his deputy and he guaranteed to step aside in the not too distant future, the source claimed.

Mr Farron has said he will continue in post until Parliament goes into recess on July 20, when a leadership election will take place to install a replacemen­t in time for the party’s September conference.

Another senior Lib Dem source said the new leader will need to reposition the party. They said: “I certainly think it needs a rebrand ... The election clearly demonstrat­es that it doesn’t have popular appeal as it is.”

 ??  ?? Jo Swinson is seen by many as the heir apparent to Tim Farron as Liberal Democrat leader
Jo Swinson is seen by many as the heir apparent to Tim Farron as Liberal Democrat leader

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