Vince Cable is facing a plot to unseat him as Liberal Democrat leader and replace him with an MP who is 40 years younger. Members of the party see Oxford West MP Layla Moran, 35, as his successor
The veteran, who has been trying to brand the Lib Dems as a ‘stop Brexit’ force, is facing a backlash from party members after missing a key Commons vote last week on quitting the EU, which the Government won by just three votes.
Dr Cable, 75, chose to attend a dinner with unnamed ‘political figures’ from another party rather than vote against pro-Brexit amendments tabled by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s hardline European Research Group. Now, a group of senior Lib Dems are planning to meet this week to push for Dr Cable to be succeeded by 35-year-old Layla Moran, the party’s education spokeswoman, who became an MP only last year.
One said it was time to ‘sweep away’ the ‘fossil’ who has led the party since Tim Farron quit after the Lib Dems won just 12 seats at last year’s General Election. The source added: ‘It is not so much skipping one generation, as two.’
A leading Lib Dem anti-Brexit campaigner said: ‘Layla Moran has that rare ability to connect with people. Swinson just doesn’t have the necessary stardust.’ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... unger.html
Four days at a Liberal Democrat conference can feel like three days too many. There aren’t many heavyweights to go round and by the time the conference reaches its final day, most of them have already said most of what they came to say several times over at different events. Stay for long enough and you can feel as if you are in an echo chamber, and not just because there aren’t that many people in the audience.
Come the buildup to the leader’s closing speech, even the most committed Lib Dems were beginning to look a bit vacant. Sarah Olney was given a special consolation prize for losing her seat to Zac Goldsmith in the general election, while Layla Moran, who unseated the Tory Nicola Blackwood, was dragged on stage during the annual whip-round – hear the sound of one coin clapping – to share her love of Disney theme parks with a Lib Dem strategist called Sean.
Then came Vince Cable. Not just the star of the show, but pretty much the whole show itself. He’d hoped to come on stage to the soundtrack of Skyfall until someone had told him the first words of that were “This is the end”, so he had to settle for the theme music to Ski Sunday. Most people’s thoughts immediately turned to Eddie the Eagle. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... nce-speech
Clegg doesn't mess about when there's a chauffeur-driven limousine to jump into. I can understand him wanting sun, surf, Califonia girls and a fat salary as a corporate trophy bride but Facebook?Facebook hires Nick Clegg as head of global affairs
Facebook has hired Nick Clegg, the former UK deputy prime minister, to head its global affairs and communications team as it faces escalating problems over data protection and the threat of greater government regulation.
Sir Nick will move to Silicon Valley in January to succeed Elliot Schrage, who announced he would leave Facebook after 10 years in June.
His recruitment will be as much of a surprise to the British political establishment as it will be to Silicon Valley, where few European politicians enjoy a high profile in the insular tech industry.
In a post on Facebook, Sir Nick said he felt Facebook must tackle the thorny questions about how technology is affecting society “not by acting alone in Silicon Valley, but by working with people, organizations, governments and regulators around the world to ensure that technology is a force for good.”
The former deputy prime minister led the Liberal Democrat party in coalition with David Cameron’s Conservatives between 2010 to 2015 but lost his seat in parliament in the 2017 general election.
He agreed to take on the job after months of wooing by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, who told Sir Nick he would have a leading role in shaping the company’s strategy.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, said Sir Nick was a “thoughtful and gifted leader” who “understands deeply the responsibilities we have to people who use our service around the world”. https://www.ft.com/content/358b0e0e-d38 ... 74db66bcd5
The LD Leave vote was nearly as high as Labour and the SNP's. And a lot probably live in Eastbourne. Norman Lamb also has a Leave constituency.
- By mattomac