Sir John Vincent Cable is a British politician who led the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019 and represented Twickenham in Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and again from 2017 to 2019. He served as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade in the coalition government between 2010 and 2015. Cable studied natural science and economics at Cambridge before working as a finance officer in the Kenya Treasury and lecturing in economics at Glasgow University, where he also earned his PhD. His distinguished career included roles in the Diplomatic Service, directing research at the ODI, advising the Commonwealth Secretary-General, heading the international economics programme at Chatham House, and serving as Chief Economist for Shell Group Planning.

Initially active in the Labour Party and a Glasgow City councillor in the early 1970s, Cable later advised Trade Secretary John Smith before defecting to the Social Democratic Party in 1982, which subsequently merged to form the Liberal Democrats. After four unsuccessful parliamentary campaigns, he won Twickenham in 1997 and quickly became Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, later serving as Deputy Leader from 2006 until joining the Cabinet in 2010. Cable now writes commentary for Comment Central.