Vince Cable is Chairmanda's new leader.

I'm no ageist - certainly not at my age - but picking a 72 year old to lead your party (presumably health willing into the next general election) seems to be shooting yourself in the foot somewhat?

What am I missing?

Sir Vince Cable is set to become leader of the Liberal Democrats later.
The 74-year old is expected to be the only candidate on the ballot paper when nominations close at 16:00 BST.
Other possible contenders have all ruled themselves out, paving the way for the Twickenham MP and former business secretary to assume the leadership being vacated by Tim Farron.
Sir Vince, who has been acting and deputy leader in the past, has argued that Brexit is not inevitable.
Mr Farron stood down after a disappointing general election in which the party increased its number of MPs from nine to 12 but saw its vote share fall to 7.4%.
Brexit aim
The party's main campaign pledge during the election was to give the public the final say on the terms of the UK's exit from the EU in a further referendum, ahead of the scheduled withdrawal date in March 2019.
Although Sir Vince has admitted this message did not "cut through", he has argued that attitudes are beginning to change and that the public mood will come round to the party's position.
He has said the Conservative and Labour leaderships are conspiring to negotiate a "hard Brexit" and he is willing to work with MPs from other parties to thwart this.
Sir Vince, who was knighted last year, is set to be elected unopposed after other potential candidates, including Jo Swinson, Norman Lamb and Sir Ed Davey, said they would not be putting themselves forward.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40662737

Is he 72 or 74?

Stop confusing me.

72 and 24 months!



Sorry, even I didn't think he was that old.

The point still stands, is he simply too old for people to relate to him and rally around?

I know the Lib Dems have a small pool to choose from but he's hardly the most charismatic of the bunch.

He's got a fair whack of experience, and JC is in his late 60s and thousands are happy with him. Perhaps Chairmanda should mount her own leadership challenge. Didn't Paddy Ashdown come from that neck of the woods?

I always thought Vince Cable was a porn star.

Cajunboy wrote:I always thought Vince Cable was a porn star.

Cajunboy wrote:I always thought Vince Cable was a porn star.

the only thing Vince is good for is laying a cable.

Clearly you are being ageist as you haven't given a reason apart from his age for why he shouldn't be leader.

I've never voted lib dem but he's always been one of my favourites. Talks total sense 99% of the time, at least he does on question time anyway.

RustyNail wrote:Clearly you are being ageist as you haven't given a reason apart from his age for why he shouldn't be leader.

I've never voted lib dem but he's always been one of my favourites. Talks total sense 99% of the time, at least he does on question time anyway.

He is actually the best candidate for the Lib Dem leadership post in my opinion. He was interviewed on BBC breakfast news this morning and always comes across as a safe pair of hands.

My previous comment was meant as a joke. A reference to Bobby Knutt in Benidorm.

RT I was addressing the original post, "I'm no ageist...."

RustyNail wrote:RT I was addressing the original post, "I'm no ageist...."

You mean me!?!

I actually said -

Sluffy wrote:I'm no ageist - certainly not at my age...

Why did you feel the need to edit out that bit???

Most people on Nuts know I'm not far off my seventies myself!!!

Even if you had not known that I qualified my remark on my very next post (post number 3 in this thread)

Sluffy wrote:The point still stands, is he simply too old for people to relate to him and rally around?

I know the Lib Dems have a small pool to choose from but he's hardly the most charismatic of the bunch.

So don't be trying to stir up something that clearly is not there in the first place.

Thank you.

Is this the same theory as the racist who can't possibly be a racist because he has 1 black mate?

Just because you are old doesn't mean you aren't being ageist.

He's about as charismatic as any other politician, which admittedly, isn't very much.

I love how somebody who has spent most of the last 10 years on football forums, seems to struggle debating with somebody without getting ultra defensive and childish. I would have thought you would have mastered the art by now.

Or is this the old act like a dick to get the post count higher trick like Manny used to do on BA?

To be fair it's working a treat as I've now posted 3 times in a row!

Wow.  Just wow.  Save the essay sluffy and just ignore.

y2johnny wrote:Wow.  Just wow.  Save the essay sluffy and just ignore.

Good advice Johnny.

Maybe people can now see what nutcases there are on the internet carrying on their personal vendettas and agendas over something trivial and petty they didn't like on some small footy forum from months and years back.

What is this personal vendetta you speak of? I'm not aware of us ever having a run in before.

You forgot to put in your other favourite catchphrase about not taking the internet seriously.

He is coming to Bristol tomorrow for a meet the leader session. I've only met him once before, briefly, so have yet to form a fixed opinion of the individual. I do think the constitution needs changing so that the leader need not be an MP. When we have so few of them, and they are in the main so new, they need to bed themselves in to Parliament, and devote themselves to their constituency whilst learning the ropes, cutting down the pool of potential candidates too low imo.

The truth is that they have very little to choose from, so maybe a stop gap. He's the only one with any experience and stands unopposed. 

Manda not sure that that's the way to go, a leader who is not an MP is a bit like having a football captain who never plays. How could you form a government with a leader who cannot attend PM's questions.

UKIP had a leader that was not an MP he craved election but failed and look at them now.

wessy wrote:The truth is that they have very little to choose from, so maybe a stop gap. He's the only one with any experience and stands unopposed. 

Manda not sure that that's the way to go, a leader who is not an MP is a bit like having a football captain who never plays. How could you form a government with a leader who cannot attend PM's questions.

UKIP had a leader that was not an MP he craved election but failed and look at them now.

it depends what you think the role of leader of the party is, West. Absolutely you need a leader in H of C, for the reasons you mention above, but a leader of Libdem's currently needs to spend a lot of time on the road, visiting local branches, dealing with regional problems, enthusing the wider membership, having lengthy policy discussions. I'd argue that the skill set should for those roles aren't often found in the same person who is good at the oratory and political positioning needed from a MP leader.