Sir Vince Cable today claimed he could be Britan’s next Prime Minister despite vowing to reverse Brexit and the party’s failure at the June election.
The newly elected Liberal Democrat chief said the succession of shock results at the ballot box in Britain, the US and France proved dramatic changes were possible.
Sir Vince played down the failure of his party to cut through to the country at the general election when the party went from eight to just 12 MPs.
The former Cabinet minister is using his first party conference to make the case for a new referendum choosing between the Brexit deal and staying in Europe.
Sir Vince Cable (pictured today on the Andrew Marr show) has claimed he could be Britan’s next Prime Minister despite vowing to reverse Brexit and the party’s failure at the June election
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The newly elected Liberal Democrat chief said the succession of shock results at the ballot box in Britain, the US and France proved dramatic changes were possible
Sir Vince said today one of the key Lib Dem messages to voters would be ‘projecting the idea that I’m an alternative prime minister’.
He told The Observer: ‘You may blink, but that’s the message I need to get across and want to get across. Given the alternatives, I think that’s plausible.
‘In these times of political upheaval all kinds of strange things can happen.’
Sir Vince said the Lib Dems needed to present themselves as a party of government, not just a voice of protest.
‘We haven’t been seen as even bidding for that ground,’ he said.
‘Being a plucky third party is not my view. It’s got to be that we are a serious party with a serious leader who can run the country.’
![The Liberal Democrats are gathering in Bournemouth under tight security (pictured last night) in the aftermath of the fifth terrorist attack this year on Friday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/17/11/445A4BF200000578-0-image-a-22_1505642564329.jpg)
The Liberal Democrats are gathering in Bournemouth under tight security (pictured last night) in the aftermath of the fifth terrorist attack this year on Friday
Sir Vince denied today that his party was in a ‘wretched’ states despite the liberal vote declining to its lowest level since 1959.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr that the country was looking for a ‘common sense’ middle ground in politics and claimed both the main parties being locked into a civil war.
Sir Vince, 74, dismissed talk that he had taken part in a deal placing him in the role of leader in a caretaker capacity until his deputy Jo Swinson took over after Brexit was triggered in March 2019.
He said: ‘No, that wasn’t the case. I’m not putting up a limit. I do it for as long as I need to do it.’
The Lib Dems gathering in Bournemouth are set to review why they failed to make major process at June’s general election, going from eight to just 12 seats despite targeting the Remain vote.
Speaking at a rally to launch the conference, Sir Vince said: ‘We are the party of Remain. We believe membership of the EU is in the interest of our country.
‘Nobody has yet come up with a plausible explanation about how we will be better off leaving.
![In his first intervention of the annual gathering, Sir Vince (pictured as activists gathered yesterday) insisted 'we believe Britain should stay in the European Union - period'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/17/11/4458C48800000578-0-In_his_first_intervention_of_the_annual_gathering_Sir_Vince_insi-a-23_1505642729870.jpg)
In his first intervention of the annual gathering, Sir Vince (pictured as activists gathered yesterday) insisted ‘we believe Britain should stay in the European Union – period’
‘Divorce is messy and often nasty and I fear this will be. We are not looking for soft exit – we are the party of Remain.
‘We want the public to have a choice. Once we know the outcome… we want people to have a vote.
‘Do you want to go ahead with what the Government has negotiated or do you want an exit from Brexit.’
In other developments today, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Jo Swinson used her main conference speech to claim China had become a ‘voice of reason’ in the world and Putin’s Russia was more measure than America.
Ms Swinson warned activists the ‘politics of the bully is back’.
The deputy leader launched an angry attack on US President Donald Trump, branding him a ‘misogynist and a racist’.
Ms Swinson’s remarks will anger those who believe the Special Relationship between the UK and USA is more important than any one President.
In her rallying call to party activists, Ms Swinson warned ‘politics is broken’ and told them they could not take for granted that liberal people would win in the end.
And amid a growing international crisis in North Korea, she said: ‘When calm heads and brave leaders are needed more than ever, global politics seems broken.
‘A few years ago it would have seemed inconceivable that in such a crisis, China would be a voice of reason, and Russia more measured than America.
‘The politics of the bully is back. Human rights are trampled. Climate change is denied. Hate and division are spread like poison into society.’
Ms Swinson’s foreign policy intervention came after she told a meeting on the fringes of the conference that the transitional deal offered ‘time’ to those seeking to frustrate Brexit.
She said: ‘They mean that it is not this mad rush and there is the opportunity there for the country to take stock and to think.
‘The closer we are to our EU neighbours, the easier it is, at some future point, to reverse the decision.
‘Because, if you haven’t then hugely diverged from everything, if you have still got the same rules in place, if you have still got the same trading arrangements, then actually the coming back becomes much easier.
‘So, I think, strategically, that is important for us to try to achieve working with others.’
![Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson (file image) told party activists today they could use the time offered by a transition deal to frustrate Brexit](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/17/11/1722D80900000514-0-Lib_Dem_deputy_leader_Jo_Swinson_file_image_told_party_activists-a-24_1505642731792.jpg)
Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson (file image) told party activists today they could use the time offered by a transition deal to frustrate Brexit
Now Farron can’t even win at his own conference! Ex-Lib Dem chief LOSES bizarre dad-dancing disco battle
Tim Farron has fallen short in another political clash – after coming second in a bizarre competitive disco at the Liberal Democrat conference.
The ex-party leader was the highest profile contender at the strange annual tradition on the fringes of the Bournemouth conference.
But his set – which included The Strokes and Duran Duran – was not enough to beat party staffer Daisy Benson.
Mr Farron dad-danced his way through the late night party joined by hundreds of activists and several other Liberal Democrat ‘celebrities’.
![Tim Farron has fallen short in another political clash - after coming second in a bizarre competitive disco at the Liberal Democrat conference (pictured)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/17/12/446196FE00000578-4892394-Tim_Farron_has_fallen_short_in_another_political_clash_after_com-a-36_1505646295737.jpg)
Tim Farron has fallen short in another political clash – after coming second in a bizarre competitive disco at the Liberal Democrat conference (pictured)
Other contenders were candidate Kelly-Marie Blundell and Lib Dem peer Sarah Ludford.
Each of the four politicians play four songs at the high school-style disco before beer-fuelled crowd is invited to pick a winner.
After his defeat was confirmed, sources told the MailOnline: ‘Tim is used to these kind of results as a Liberal Democrat where you can be the best and still end up coming third.’