VINCE Cable celebrated a resounding victory in the LibDem leadership contest last night – after no other candidates emerged.

The ex-Business Secretary was the sole name on the ballot paper when nominations closed at 4pm.

East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson, who had been tipped as a frontrunner, ruled herself out and is now deputy leader, while Norman Lamb and Ed Davey also said they would not stand.

Paying tribute to his predecessor Tim Farron, who stepped down after the General Election, Cable said: “I’m ambitious for this country and I’m ambitious for this party.

“In difficult times, we have shown enormous resilience but I believe we can fight our way back, break through and make an enormous success of our party and eventually, in government.”

While the LibDems increased their number of MPs from nine to 12 at the snap election, their vote share decreased to 7.4 per cent.

Farron, who faced criticism over his attitudes to same-sex relationships, said his time leading the party had been marked by “suspicion” over his Christian faith. Yesterday Cable, who represents Twickenham, praised Farron for rebuilding the party and taking its membership to record levels.

In his first speech as leader, the 74-year-old described UK politics as “more polarised and divided than at any time any of us can remember” with a void in the centre ground.

He said: “There is a huge gap in the centre of British politics and I intend to fill it.

“As the only party committed to staying in the single market and customs union, the Liberal Democrats are alone in fighting to protect our economy.

“It will soon become clear that the Government can’t deliver the painless Brexit it promised. So, we need to prepare for an exit from Brexit. Theresa May wants to take Britain back to the 1950s while Jeremy Corbyn wants to take Britain back to the 1970s.

“I will offer an optimistic, alternative agenda to power the country into the 2020s and beyond.”

The 74-year-old has never challenged for the leadership before, but acted as interim leader following the 2007 departure of Sir Menzies Campbell, who succeeded Charles Kennedy.

Making reference to the Tories’ General Election slogan, Farron described the new party head as “well and truly strong and Cable”.

Defending his own record, Farron said rumours of the party’s death “did not seem exaggerated” after its disastrous 2015 General Election result, adding: “People looked at us and concluded we had lost reason to exist and my purpose was to prove everybody wrong.”