TWICKENHAM MP Vincent Cable has been formally re-adopted to defend his parliamentary seat at the next General Election.

A Liberal Democrat meeting at York House on Monday unanimously invited him to continue to represent them. Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London, came to Twickenham to speak in his support.

Dr Cable said: "I am delighted and honoured to be asked to continue. I have indicated that if re-elected I would be happy to serve another full term in parliament before handing over to another Liberal Democrat. I shall put up a strong campaign to defend the seat, though with a majority of 7,655 and the Conservatives in disarray, I am very confident of holding it.

"The Conservatives need a swing of almost eight per cent to win in Twickenham. Having failed to find anyone to contest the seat when they tried looking for a candidate a year ago and an increasingly unpopular Conservative council, they are not in good shape."

Dr Cable was first elected in 1997 and is a member of Charles Kennedy's Shadow Cabinet, as spokesman for Trade and Industry. He claims to be one of the most active MPs at Westminster and last year came third out of 659 MPs in terms of the number of questions asked in Parliament and speeches made.