Layla Moran questions some of Vince Cable's party reforms

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The conventional wisdom holds that once a political leader starts to talk about standing down, he or she is drained of authority.

In the case of Vince Cable (whom I have always rather admired as a political operator) the conventional wisdom is being proved right.

Suddenly he looks his age and his leadership is being openly questioned.

Business Insider (which normally gets its Liberal Democrats stories from 12-year-old workers at party HQ) has an interview with Layla Moran:

Moran said that while she supported "really well-respected" non-MPs from inside the movement leading the party — like councillors, or parliamentarians from Scotland or Wales  — she did not want a "celebrity" to get the job. 

"I have concerns about a celebrity coming into the party and saying they're going to lead us to the promised land," she said. "If they weren't a Lib Dem before, why the hell would they want to be now?" 

"The party, in general, would be really sceptical if that happened." 

Asked whether she would support an MP formerly of another party taking control of the Lib Dems — like Labour's Chuka Umunna, who is frequently tipped to walk away from his party — Moran said: "Absolutely not."

I sense there is widespread support for the idea of Lib Dem 'Supporters', though debate over the privileges that status should bring with it.

As I have blogged, successful parties naturally attract a wider circle of people who wish them well but do not want to join.

Of course, there is no guarantee the process will work the other way round. Attracting that wider circle first will not necessarily lead to success.

I am a sceptic about a leader from outside the parliamentary party, while the idea of allowing people to stand for the party as soon as they join is surely aimed at making things easier for MPs of other parties who decide to join us.

There was another problem with Vince's announcement that he will be standing down. He said he would go when Brexit is "resolved or stopped".

The idea that Brexit can be resolved quickly is a Leaver fantasy. And that fantasy fuels the voters who say they cannot understand why the governments hasn't "just got on with it".

Vince should not have given this fantasy any credence,

If he waits until Brexit is resolved he will be Lib Dem leader for decades.