A FORMER cabinet member has said the Liberal Democrats have 'a fighting chance' of winning West Worcestershire's seat.

Sir Vince Cable, a former Lib Dem leader, came to Malvern this week to drum up support for West Worcestershire PPC Beverley Nielsen as next week’s general election looms.

At the event, Sir Vince said the Lib Dems had a good chance of winning the seat, despite Harriett Baldwin having a strong Conservative majority.

He said: “The polls suggest it could be a bit narrower in West Worcestershire - we are now second place.

“If there is a big swing it could be very interesting.

“In a sense there are two elections going on. There is a Remain vs Leave election and also a Johnson vs Corbyn one.

“Our advantage is that we are clear on where we stand on Brexit which is also an advantage.

“I am here tonight to support Beverley because she is an outstanding candidate and because this is one of the seats in which we’ve a fighting chance.”

Mr Cable is not standing in this election, having been an MP since 1997, and is instead touring the country helping Lib Dem candidates in their campaigns.

He said: “I have had 10 general elections now and wanted to hand over leadership of the party when it was in good shape.

“We had our best ever European election results this year so the time was right.”

On the subject of this election, Mr Cable said he did not remember many elections with the same “toxic atmosphere” around them.

He added: “1983 was a bit similar to this election where you had Margaret Thatcher and Michael Foot, but it is not to the same level as this one. In this election, there is almost a sense on both sides that voters are so frightened by one side that they will vote for the other.

“When you get to the stage where a dry as dust Thatcherite like Phillip Hammond is no longer welcome in the Conservative Party, there is a real problem.”

Mr Cable, 76, served as leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 until earlier this year, and was a cabinet member during the coalition. He held the post of secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy as well as being the MP for Twickenham from 1997 until 2015, and then again from 2017 until 2019.

He was the oldest post-war leader of a political party since Winston Churchill.