Sir Vince Cable

Former Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills

Formerly Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade in the Coalition government (2010-15). Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party (2017-19) and MP for Twickenham (elected 1997; retired 2019).

Currently Visiting Professor in Practice at the LSE and Visiting Professor at Nottingham and Shenzhen universities. Also, Distinguished Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI Global)

Chair of Element 2, the Hydrogen infrastructure company and of the eFreight 2030 consortium.

Before becoming MP was Chief Economist at Shell; Head of International Economics, Chatham House; Special Adviser to the Commonwealth Secretary General; seconded to the Diplomatic Service; Head of Research at ODI; Finance Officer; Kenya Treasury. He is a graduate of Cambridge University and Glasgow University (PhD).

He has several books including Eclipsing the West: China, India and forging the new international order (2025); The Chinese Conundrum (2022); How to be a Politician (2022); Partnership and Politics in a Divided Decade (2021); Money and Power (2021); Open Arms (2017); After the Storm (2015); The Storm (2009); Free Radical (2009); Globalisation and Global Governance (1999).