Sir Vince Cable will join an exclusive band of political leaders who step down on an electoral high after a surge of Remain support catapulted the Liberal Democrats into second place. The party, which was reduced to a single MEP in 2014, picked up 16 seats and one in five of all the votes cast in its best European results. Notably the party came top of the ballot with 27 per cent in Labour’s London stronghold, having been fifth behind the Greens in 2014. Even in Islington, where the MPs are Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry, the Lib Dems pushed Labour into second place with a 20 per cent swing. Encouragingly for the party’s prospects in a future general election the Lib Dems performed well…

Source: The Times May 28, 2019 00:06 UTC