Vince Cable: Former Liberal Democrat minister retakes London Twickenham seat from Conservatives

Lib Dems are 'back in play' and will have a 'significant role' in Parliament, says Sir Vince

Sir Vince Cable speaks after winning the Twickenham seat (PA)

Sir Vince Cable has won back his Twickenham seat from the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrat politician had held the constituency since 1997, but was beaten by Tory Dr Tania Mathias in 2015 with a majority of just 2,017.

The 74-year-old wrested back his seat with 52.7 per cent of the vote, compared to Dr Mathias's 38 per cent.

Sir Vince, who was made business secretary in the 2010 coalition, took 34,969 votes overall – 9,762 more than Dr Mathias. The turnout in Twickenham was 79.5 per cent.

As soon as he arrived at the count he was clear he had won. “We've obviously done very well,” he told The Independent shortly after conferring with the defeated Conservative candidate.

After the result was announced, he said: "We've all underestimated the force of the younger generation."

The Lib Dems are "back in play" and will have a "significant role" in Parliament, he said. Dr Mathias praised Sir Vince and said being an MP had been "sheer joy".

The party's leader Tim Farron held his seat in Westmorland & Lonsdale with a slim majority of 777, but former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg was ousted from Sheffield Hallam by Labour.

Exit polls suggest the UK is heading for a hung parliament. The Conservatives are predicted to emerge as the largest party with 314 seats, a loss of 17 seats, with Jeremy Corbyn's Labour on 266, a gain of 34.

As leader of the party that seems very likely to win the most seats, Ms May will have the first opportunity to form a government.

However, should she prove unable to pass key legislation such as a budget or Queen's Speech, Mr Corbyn could be asked by the Queen to attempt to form a government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Greens.

Asked what Labour's surge meant for the prospect of a coalition, Sir Vince told The Independent: “It's absolutely clear, we're not budging from that. We've said we're not going into coalition with either side.

“We will look at issues on their merits. The major parties can't just shout at each other. Issues like Brexit are now going to require a fundamentally different approach.

“A lot of other issues are going to have to be tackled in a much more consensual way.”

He added: “We've all underestimated the force of the younger generation. Mr Corbyn, to his credit, understood that.”