Vince Cable

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Vince Cable

Sir John Vincent "Vince" Cable (born May 9, 1943 in York , England ) is a British politician of the Liberal Democrats . From May 2010 to June 2015 he was Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the Cameron I cabinet and as such also President of the Board of Trade . From June 2017 to July 2019 he was party leader of the Liberal Democrats.

biography

Studies, professional career and member of several parties

After attending Nunthorpe Grammar School in York, he studied natural sciences and economics at Fitzwilliam College of the University of Cambridge . He then completed a postgraduate degree in economics at the University of Glasgow , graduating with a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.). During his studies he was a member of the Liberal Party .

He was then a financial advisor to the government of Kenya from 1966 to 1968 , before he was a lecturer at the University of Glasgow and the London School of Economics between 1968 and 1974 . In 1970, he competed as a candidate of the Labor Party unsuccessfully for a seat in the lower house ( House of Commons ) , but lost Tam Galbraith , the conservative owner of the constituency Glasgow Hillhead and father of the current leader of the House of Lords Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde . Afterwards, however, he was a member of the Glasgow City Council for some time .

After serving as First Secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Diplomatic Service from 1974 and 1976 and as Deputy Director of the Overseas Development Institute , he was Special Advisor to then Secretary of Commerce and Industry, John Smith, between 1978 and 1979 .

In 1979 he applied for a nomination as a Labor Party candidate for the general election in the constituency of Hampstead , but was defeated by Ken Livingstone , who in turn lost to Geoffrey Finsberg in the 1979 general election.

He then worked for the General Secretary of the Commonwealth of Nations and, after leaving the Labor Party in February 1982, became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) founded a year earlier and ran unsuccessfully in the general election in 1983 and 1987 for this party in the constituency of York .

Political career with the Liberal Democrats

In 1988 he joined the newly founded Liberal Democrats and applied for a seat in the lower house in the 1992 general election in the constituency of Twickenham, again unsuccessfully . Most recently, from 1995 to 1997, he worked as chief economist at Royal Dutch Shell , of which he had been an employee since 1990.

In the general election in May 1997 , after several unsuccessful candidacies, he was elected for the first time as a member of the lower house and has since represented the constituency of Twickenham and was able to improve his election results from an initial 45.1 percent to 54.4 percent of the votes in the lower house elections in May 2010 .

Between January 1997 and January 1999 he was also spokesman for the Liberal Democrats for the Treasury, before he was spokesman for trade and industry from January 1999 and October 2003. Most recently, from October 2003 to May 2010, he was chief spokesman for the Liberal Democrats for the Treasury and thus potential Treasury Chancellor of his party in the event of an election victory.

He has also been Deputy Chairman of the Liberal Democrats since March 2006 and between October 15 and December 18, 2007, he also held the position of incumbent party chairman . He then handed this office over to the newly elected party chairman Nick Clegg .

After the conclusion of the coalition with the Conservative Party after the general election in May 2010, he was selected by Prime Minister David Cameron (on 12 May 2010 for the Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Skills , Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills ) appointed and therefore a of five Liberal Democrats in the Cameron I cabinet . He is also President of the Board of Trade .

In this role he will deal with the difficult issue of the privatization of the British State Post Royal Mail . In addition, he wants to draft a special law, the so-called "Cadbury Law", to regulate mergers, as in the case of the confectionery company Cadbury plc . On the other hand, the introduction of an academic tax to support universities is being examined.

In the general election in 2015 , Cable lost his constituency of Twickenham , which he had held for the Liberal Democrats since 1997, to his rival candidate Tania Mathias from the Conservatives. The offer of Nick Clegg to get him after this defeat by the inclusion in the Dissolution Honors List with a life peerage title for a seat in the upper house of parliament, Cable refused. Instead, he was knighted in the Dissolution Honors and has been allowed to call himself Sir ever since .

On April 18, 2017, Cable said he would run for the Liberal Democrats in the upcoming June general election in the constituency of Twickenham . He won the constituency by 9,762 votes ahead of Tania Mathias, who had again run for the Conservative Party. In June 2017 he was elected party leader of the Liberal Democrats unopposed. During his time as party chairman, the party increased significantly in the polls as it was the only British party to position itself clearly against Brexit.

In May 2019, Cable announced his retirement as party leader. In mid-July he was replaced by Jo Swinson , who prevailed after a member survey.

Publications

Vince Cable is also the author of numerous books on political and economic topics. His publications include:

  • The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What it Means. Atlantic Books, 2009, ISBN 1-84887-057-4 .
  • Globalization & Global Governance. Thomson Learning, 1999, ISBN 0-8264-6169-7 .
  • China and India: Economic Reform and Global Integration. Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995, ISBN 1-899658-00-9 .
  • The World's New Fissures. Demos, 1995, ISBN 1-898309-35-3 .
  • Trade Blocs: The Future of Regional Integration. The Brookings Institution, 1994, ISBN 0-905031-81-4 .
  • Commerce of Culture: Experience of Indian Handicrafts. Lancer International, 1990, ISBN 81-7062-004-X .
  • with Bishnodat Persaud (Ed.): Developing with Foreign Investment. Routledge, 1987, ISBN 0-7099-4825-5 .
  • with Betsy Baker: World Textile Trade and Production Trends. Economist Intelligence Unit, 1983, ISBN 0-86218-084-8 .
  • Case Studies in Development Economics. Heinemann Educ., 1982, ISBN 0-435-33937-0 .
  • with Jeremy Clarke: British Electronics and Competition with Newly Industrializing Countries. Overseas Development Institute, 1981, ISBN 0-85003-076-5 .
  • Evaluation of the Multifibre Arrangement and Negotiating Options. Commonwealth Secretariat, 1981, ISBN 0-85092-204-6 .
  • British Interests and Third World Development. Overseas Development Institute, 1980, ISBN 0-85003-070-6 .
  • World Textile Trade and Production. Economist Intelligence Unit, London 1979, ISBN 0-900351-85-3 .
  • with Ann Weston: South Asia's Exports to the EEC: Obstacles and Opportunities. Overseas Development Institute, 1979, ISBN 0-85003-068-4 .
  • World Textile Trade and Production. Economist Intelligence Unit, London 1979, OCLC 5210569 .
  • Import Controls: The Case Against. Fabian Society, 1977, ISBN 0-7163-1335-9 .
  • Whither Kenyan Emigrants ?. Fabian Society, 1969, ISBN 0-7163-2018-5 .

Web links

Commons : Vince Cable  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. FINANCIAL TIMES DEUTSCHLAND: Head of the day: Vince Cable - Der Traditionsbrecher (September 12, 2010) ( Memento from September 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. THE TELEGRAPH: Vince Cable in push for 'Cadbury law' (October 23, 2010)
  3. BBC NEWS: Vince Cable ditches graduate tax option for England (October 9, 2010)
  4. Election results shocks: The big name losers. BBC News, May 8, 2015, accessed May 8, 2015 .
  5. ^ Vince Cable among four Lib Dems to turn down Lords offers from Clegg. In: The Guardian. May 15, 2015, accessed May 16, 2015
  6. ^ Dissolution Honors 2015 , Prime Minister's Office press release, August 27, 2015, accessed September 10, 2015.
  7. ^ Mortimer, Caroline: Vince Cable to run for parliament again after Theresa May's snap general election announcement. The Independent , April 18, 2017, accessed April 19, 2017 .
  8. Election 2017: Lib Dem leader Tim Farron says May should go. BBC News , June 9, 2017, accessed June 9, 2017 .
  9. ^ Peter Walker Political correspondent: Jo Swinson elected new Lib Dem leader . In: The Guardian . July 22, 2019, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed July 22, 2019]).
  10. Lucy Knight: Vince Cable to step down as Lib Dem leader on July 23 . In: The Guardian . May 24, 2019, ISSN  0261-3077 (English, theguardian.com [accessed July 1, 2019]).
  11. 39-year-old Scottish woman: British anti-Brexit party LibDem elects Jo Swinson as the new party leader. Retrieved July 22, 2019 .