WESTMORLAND and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron urged Lib Dems to rally behind new leader Vince Cable during an impassioned speech to the party's autumn conference.

Mr Farron, who stepped down as Lib Dem leader after June's general election, described Mr Cable as "brilliant", "outstanding" and "the wisest person on the planet" - and said the party was "the only movement that can rescue our country and the generations to come from the disaster it now faces".

During his speech in Bournemouth on Monday, Mr Farron looked back over the highs and lows of his 31 years with the Lib Dems. Interspersing personal stories with politics, he reflected on the Lib Dems' record on climate change, the banking collapse, Brexit and the Iraq war, and its disastrous showing in the 2015 general election, when 90 per cent of Lib Dem MPs were defeated.

Recalling his resolve to keep the party alive, to make gains and to increase its membership, Mr Farron told delegates: "We saved the Liberal Democrats and I am proud of every single one of you."

He said the Lib Dems' membership had doubled to 105,000 since the EU referendum - "the highest it has ever been in the history of our party" - and spoke of its new momentum since gains in the June general election.

"I said during the campaign that my motivation for fighting the madness of Brexit was that I wanted to look my children straight in the eye in the years to come and say that I did everything, everything to prevent this disaster," said Mr Farron. "And that is still my motivation. It is not too late. The Britain we love can still be saved. Do not give up."

The MP's fondness and pride in is Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency was evident as he spoke of South Lakeland being "the best place in the North for women to live". He also shared a memory of joining a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament with youngsters from Kendal's Dean Gibson Catholic Primary School shortly after becoming an MP, and said their visit had shown him "everything I know about what's where in Parliament".

Mr Farron said that since stepping down as leader and having "a bit more time" on his hands, he had "done a bit more running, seen a lot more of my kids", and had even written a chapter about a rap album - NWA's Straight Outta Compton - for a new book.

He said he loved being "a campaigning MP" and part of the "Lib Dem family", and felt "very very proud to fight" under the banner of leadership team Vince Cable and his deputy Jo Swinson.

Meanwhile, in a humorous aside, Mr Farron recalled sharing "a ballot paper, and a hairstyle, Rick Astley's hairstyle to be precise" with Theresa May in the early 1990s, saying: "We wore it well."