InVinceCable We Trust

This Thursday’s leaders’ debate on the BBC – the final one before the election – will focus on the economy, the most critical issue and the one which will define the success or otherwise of the next Government.

You can submit questions for the debate on the BBC website here, and we’ve been encouraging as many people as possible to submit the following question:

“In the event of a hung parliament, do you agree that Vince Cable is the person best-qualified to hold the position of chancellor of the exchequer?”

It’ll only take a few seconds of your time and we think – given what all the polls are saying – that it’s an incredibly relevant one.

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As we’ve been saying for ages – and as is now widely accepted – Vince Cable is the only realistic candidate for chancellor with the credentials to do the job. If it were a job interview in the private sector, he’d stroll into the position (Darling having been rejected for being a lawyer, Osborne for not having a shred of relevant experience).

But it’s not only in cold, hard economic terms where Vince’s numbers add up to the winning total. With proper nouns now being allowed in Scrabble he manages to take top prize there too.

‘Vince Cable’ will score you a tidy 19 (without any double or triple letter or word bonuses). ‘Alistair Darling’ and ‘George Osborne’ – despite both containing more letters – will only net you a miserly 17 apiece. And if you use the full ‘Vincent’ you’ll get another couple of points on top. A bonus we can all be happy with.

If you don’t believe us, you can check our sums on the scrabble score calculator.

“Ah, yes,” mutter the smartarses, “but ‘Vincent’ is Cable’s middle name. His real first name is John.”

OK, OK. In the interests of fair play we’ll use the candidates’ proper full names. John Vincent Cable, Alistair Maclean Darling and Gideon Oliver Osborne (stop sniggering at the back…)

The scores on the doors? Cable, 35. Darling 28. Osborne, 26.

This is starting to look like an opinion poll, isn’t it?

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The New York Times published a rather splendid profile of Vince Cable yesterday: “The Rumpled Sage“. It’s worth a read.

It starts with this:

An unlikely character, bald and blunt, a “good bloke” in native parlance, has emerged as a pivotal figure in Britain’s May election, at once the country’s most popular politician and a possible chancellor of the Exchequer in the plausible event of a hung Parliament.

And it ends with this:

Cable’s got something going on. Whether it’s enough to lift the Liberal Democrats from their 63 seats is unclear. But a hung Parliament, in which neither Labour nor the Tories can form a government, is more likely than in any recent election. That could put Cable in a position of power, about as good an outcome as I can imagine.

And the stuff in between is cracking. Spread the word.

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For some odd reason I didn’t receive the week before last’s Economist until this week. Which was a pity, because I’d have been able to tell you about the following letter before now! Here it is:

SIR – Why is the City of London so bearish about a hung parliament? If this were the outcome of the election, then the government would include either Conservatives and Liberal Democrats or Labour and Liberal Democrats. In either case, the chancellor who would command the widest respect both in Parliament and nationwide would surely be the Liberals’ current economic spokesman, Vince Cable. So why the despondency? – GRAEME ALLEN, Eaton Bishop, Herefordshire

Well said Mr Allen.

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As you’ll no doubt have seen by now, splashed across the front page of yesterday’s Observer was news that Vince has “held unprecedented and detailed talks with the top official at the Treasury about the Liberal Democrats’ economic policies – and declared himself willing to serve as chancellor after the next election.”

Wow, big news indeed.

In his blog, Benedict Brogan of the Telegraph paints a rather different picture, saying that Vince had asked for the meeting, it lasted 20 minutes and Vince was given nothing more than a “polite hearing” by the Treasury.

It’s difficult to know who to believe. Either way, it could be regarded as a neat bit of positioning by Vince, allowing him to state his happiness to act as Chancellor in a hung parliament without necessarily upsetting the LibDem party faithful.

There haven’t exactly been strenuous denials coming out of Downing Street either. Maybe Brown sees some advantages in leaving to door slightly ajar. He won’t upset his neighbour, but a few wavering voters could see the potential for a Labour Government with Vince as Chancellor, which might make all the difference come the beginning of May.

Interesting times indeed.

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The bookies generally get things right – it’s the nature of the business. On its blog, Betfair is recommending that punters buy Lib Dem seats in the general election betting market. One of the key reasons is, of course, Vince Cable:

“There’s little doubt that the economy will be the central issue of this election and as a recent marginals poll illustrates, the Lib Dems hold the strongest card on this subject. Just as Charles Kennedy was rewarded for his contrarian stance on the Iraq war, so Vince Cable has been lauded as ‘the man who foresaw the credit crunch’.

“Whereas few outside Westminster had heard of him beforehand, most media outlets turn immediately to Cable for commentary on all economic matters now. Even the other parties sometimes defer to his wisdom. It also can only help that Vince has revealed his human side by appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, cementing his status as one of the few likeable, respected politicians around.”

Who are we to argue?

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In today’s Indy, Vince points out the dilemma facing Alistair Darling in tomorrow’s budget and in turn places some pressure on him to do the right thing:

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman, told The Independent: “Alistair Darling has a real choice. He can make himself popular with his next door neighbour by entering into pre-election giveaways or he can follow the example of responsible Labour Chancellors like Roy Jenkins who put the national interest first, by announcing a clear plan for sorting out the country’s finances and ensuring recovery.”

Which way will he go…Labour’s Darling or the nation’s Darling?

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Vince is going to tell it like it is.

Can’t say I’m keen on the LibDem campaign slogan though. Seems as though they’ve tried to combine Obama’s ‘change’ with Labour’s ‘fair’ and come up with something far too wordy.

invincecable! we trust works far better for me.

Watch this blog for an update on Dr. Cable’s speech.

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