Lib Dem's '˜positive' about future

The 74-year-old, who was in Yorkshire as part of a tour to kickstart his tenure as leader, said the party is still “entrenched” in the region despite losing two major seats in the General Election last month. Admitting this had been a blow, he maintained there were still grounds for optimism for the party.

“We’ve gone backwards in recent years, I’m very aware of that,” he said. “There were areas that we used to dominate, like Sheffield, Hull, and to a lesser extent, Leeds. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up.

“We still have a strong local government organisation in many parts of Yorkshire. We will fight our way back through local government and at the same time establish a strong national presence.”

The Lib Dem presence in Yorkshire was largely obliterated at the General Election in June, with former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg losing his Sheffield Hallam seat alongside Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland.

“I very much regret both of these, they are very good people,” said Sir Vince. “There was this surge in the Labour Party which we all under-estimated. Corbyn did much better than had been expected.”

And, he admitted, the coalition government formed in 2010 had in the end proved a poison chalice.

“It did us a lot of harm politically,” he said. “I would still defend Nick Clegg’s decision to go into it.

“There was a national emergency at the time, and we did have five years of strong and stable government. It did us a lot of political damage and we haven’t yet fully recovered.”

With the Conservatives and Labour maintaining a very hard stance on Brexit, he added, many people were now looking for a party which could provide a middle ground.

“I can’t remember a period in my lifetime when it has been like it is today,” he said. “There are some very decent, moderate people in the Labour Party, but the party is now dominated by one group, and on the Tory side there are hardline Brexiteers. When we see this happening, it’s difficult not to believe that a sensible party can’t break through.”

Sir Vince was in the region as he made his way north for the UK-wide tour. He was in Leeds on Saturday evening to meet with crowd of supporters, and yesterday he visited a homeless shelter in York, a city he still calls his “hometown”.

“It has become a very difference place,” he added. “York, when I grew up, was a manufacturing city.

“My mother worked at Terry’s, and my dad at Rowntree. I’ve still got a lot of ties to the city.”

With Brexit on the horizon, he warned, parts of the region could be hit hard. Using York as an example, he cited the universities’ reliance on European funding, and the dependence of farmers on seasonal workers from abroad.

“The big danger to York is that some of it’s current activities will be doubly affected by Brexit,” he said. “We have gone backwards in the last couple of years but there are still reasons to be optimistic.

“We’ve got record levels of membership, on the back of Brexit.

“There’s a lot of positive thinking. The Labour party is going to come unstuck in its promises to voters. A lot of that euphoria is going to evaporate quite soon.”