[13] Cable lectured for a time at the University of Glasgow and was a visiting research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, for a three-year period until 2004.

[19] Cable served in an official capacity at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of 1983 in Delhi, witnessing "private sessions at first hand" involving Indira Gandhi, then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Lee Kuan Yew, and Bob Hawke among others.

[18] From the 1980s onwards, Cable authored and co-wrote numerous publications in favour of globalisation, free trade, and economic integration such as Protectionism and Industrial Decline, The Commerce of Culture, and Developing with Foreign Investment.

Following the 1988 merger of the SDP and the Liberal Party, he finished in second place at the 1992 general election to Conservative MP Toby Jessel in the Twickenham constituency, by 5,711 votes.

[31] Following the Orange Book, Cable was one of several Lib Dem MPs who oversaw the party's shift towards economic liberalism with the adoption of a more free market approach,[32][33] a development which was suggested by some as having helped lead to the 2010 coalition with the Conservatives.

[37][38] Prior to the 2005 Liberal Democrat party conference, Cable did not rule out the possibility that the Lib Dems might form a coalition government with the Conservatives in the event of a hung parliament at the forthcoming general election.

On 5 January 2006, because of pressure from his frontbench team and an ITN News report documenting his alcoholism, Charles Kennedy announced a leadership election in which he pledged to stand for re-election.

[42] His was a significant voice of criticism during the Northern Rock crisis, calling for the nationalisation of the bank, capitalising on the claimed indecisiveness of both the Labour Government and Conservative Opposition on the issue.

His responsibilities and authority were somewhat reduced when it was revealed in December 2010 that he had boasted to Daily Telegraph reporters posing as constituents of his "nuclear option" to bring the government down by his resignation.

"[47] In his book The Storm, Cable writes, "The trigger for the current global financial crisis was the US mortgage market and, indeed, the scale of improvident and unscrupulous lending on that side of the Atlantic dwarfs into insignificance the escapades of our own banks."

For example, he is accused of criticising the Government's policy of Quantitative easing, when in January 2009 he used the phrase "the Robert Mugabe school of economics",[51] while in March 2009 he said, "directly increasing the amount of money flowing into the economy is now the only clear option".

"[61]In July 2010, Cable sought to reform credit lines amid a "significant demand" (according to the Forum of Private Business) of smaller firms finding it harder to secure loans.

Speaking at the Association of British Insurers biennial conference, Cable warned he planned to bring "excessive and unjustified" executive pay under control by launching a fresh consultation.

[76] In September 2012, Cable and his department colleague Michael Fallon announced a large package of deregulation for businesses, including scrapping 3,000 regulations and implementing exemptions from health and safety inspections for shops, pubs, and offices.

[84] In 2014, during the Israel-Gaza conflict, Cable received criticism for his involvement in the signing off of arms deals to Israel, primarily concerning component parts used in the assembly of Hermes drones.

[85][86] Shortly afterwards, he announced that arms exports to Israel would be suspended unless the recently declared ceasefire was upheld, a response which was condemned by Baroness Warsi, and by the CAAT who called it "very weak".

The NAO also noted that some "priority investors", had made significant profits following the sale, having been allocated more shares in the belief that they would form part of a stable and supportive shareholder base.

[107] In a cross-party effort shortly after the election, Cable along with former Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband and veteran Conservative MP Ken Clarke made a joint submission to Ofcom, opposing 21st Century Fox's takeover bid of Sky.

[111] In a manifesto released upon his ascent to leadership, Cable revealed his policy priorities as Liberal Democrat leader would include tackling inequality, improving public services, opposing Brexit, electoral reform and young people.

[114][115][116] Following the leak of the Paradise Papers, Cable commented that direct rule of Crown Dependencies should be threatened if substantial progress was not made in curbing aggressive tax avoidance.

[120] In an 8 November 2017 pre-Budget speech at the City of London, Cable announced the Liberal Democrats under his leadership would seek to revive the fiscal Golden Rule of former Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown.

[125] Also on education, he proposes to abolish the Ofsted inspectorate and reform school league tables to focus on pupil well-being rather than exam results because a “change in emphasis” is needed away from competition.

[126][127] He supported the February 2018 USS strikes, calling for the government to underwrite lecturers' pensions,[128] while refusing to cross a picket line at the Cass Business School.

In particular, Cable's support for a second referendum on membership of the European Union and his comment that older Brexit voters were driven by nostalgia were met with negative reactions from the likes of broadcaster Julia Hartley Brewer, government Cabinet member Sajid Javid, and others.

[161] The Financial Times considered Cable to be part of a "coalition of anti-capitalists" due to his calls for foreign takeovers of British companies to be blocked,[162] and in The Daily Telegraph his policies were likened unfavourably to those of the Labour Party.

[180] Cable thinks free trade is not a zero-sum game and that it is mutually beneficial for nations, stating: "Countries are better off when they participate in specialisation, with consumers benefiting from greater choice, higher quality products, and lower prices.

"[181] He has condemned British and American politicians such as Donald Trump who he claims exploit the "anger and fear" over potential job losses which may result from foreign trade competition.

[222] On 23 June 2018 Cable appeared at the People's Vote march in London to mark the second anniversary of the referendum to leave the European Union.In his speech he said, "keep fighting, keep hoping, we will win.

(...) [Theresa May] is dutifully delivering a policy she doesn't really believe in; failing in negotiations; losing public support; and all to appease a dwindling group of angry people in her party who will denounce her as a traitor, whatever she comes up with.

[230] Cable's first wife was Olympia Rebelo, a Kenyan from a Goan Roman Catholic background, whom he met "in the unromantic setting of a York mental hospital where we happened to be working as nurses during a summer holiday.