Vince Cable has launched his bid to become the next leader of the Liberal Democrats just over a week after winning back the Twickenham seat he lost to the Tories in 2015.
The former business secretary is the first party figure to go public with his bid to replace Tim Farron, who announced that he would be stepping down as LibDem leader last week.
“I am ready to commit my energy, enthusiasm and experience to the task of leading the Liberal Democrats through what will be a period of chronic uncertainty,” Cable, 74, wrote in a blog on LibDem Voice. “With the prospect of another election looming large, we must be ready for the fight.”
Speaking later on BBC Radio 5 Live, Cable said he could step down in future for a younger successor. He will by 79 by the next general election, but said he felt young enough to do the job, comparing himself to William Gladstone, who became prime minister aged 82.
“When the question arises, of a general election coming up, I’ve then got to make a choice; do I let one of my very able younger colleagues take over or do I do what William Gladstone did, quite a while ago, he became prime minister when he was 82, I think, way beyond my years. Winston Churchill did in his mid-70s,” he said.
“I mean these things happen, some of the brightest and most interesting people in British politics recently have been relatively old. You remember Bernie Sanders in America as well. I think age is a surety, if you feel old. I don’t feel old. I feel young and energetic and I’m very much up for a contest.”
Jo Swinson, the East Dunbartonshire MP who was understood to be the members’ favourite and Farron’s preferred successor, announced last week she would not run for the leadership. 
Swinson’s decision not to run means the party is likely to have an all-male shortlist for its leadership contest, despite having several new female MPs.
In the blog announcing his leadership, Cable said he would put scrutiny of the Brexit negotiations at the centre of his leadership, reaffirming Farron’s central pledge of the election campaign to fight for a second referendum on the terms of the EU exit deal.
However, unlike Farron – who ruled out deals or pacts with opposition parties – Cable said the LibDems “will need to work with like-minded people in other parties”.
Cable also said he would fight on his economic record, including early warnings of the 2008 financial crisis. “With the economy approaching the Brexit iceberg, Liberal Democrats need more than ever to warn of the dangers ahead and the need for a new course,” he said.
The MP said the Conservatives were “in disarray and in retreat” and that he did not believe Labour could continue to make gains, citing the party’s economic record.