Married to Rachel Smith since 2004. His late wife Olympia died in 2001 and their three children are Paul (married to Agnesa Totova), Aida (married to Stephen Kenny) and Hugo (married to Laura Williamson). Vince has three grandchildren: Ayrton, son of Paul and Agnesa; Charlie, son of Aida and Stephen; and Theo, son of Hugo and Laura.
Vince read Natural Science and Economics at Cambridge University followed by a PhD at Glasgow University. He has an honorary doctorate at Kingston University.
From 1966-68 he was a Treasury Finance Officer for the Kenya Government (ODI Fellow). After lecturing economics at Glasgow he worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as 1st secretary in the Diplomatic Service. He was then Deputy Director of the Overseas Development Institute including a period as Special Advisor to.the Secretary of State, John Smith. Fro 1983 to 1990 he was Special Advisor on Economic Affairs to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Sir Sonny Ramphal.
In 1990 he joined the Shell scenario planning team and became Shell’s Chief Economist. He spent a period as Head of the Economics Programme at Chatham House.
Vince served as a Labour councillor in Glasgow before joining the SDP-Liberal Alliance and the Liberal Democrats. He was elected to parliament in Twickenham in 1997 30 years after he first contested a parliamentary seat and at the fifth attempt.
Universities and Further Education
Vince is currently Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics in the School of Public Policy
He is also a visiting professor at Nottingham University. He worked with the university on a collaborative project with Future learn to develop a MOOC(on line course)
He is visiting professor at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, Distinguished Fellow of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI Global), and Honorary Fellow at Fitzwilliam College Cambridge and of the City Lit in London
Business
Vince is a frequent speaker at business conferences (DBA Speakers agency) with several Directorships.
He is Chair of the consortium of companies, efreight2030, which is seeking to replace diesel in HGVs by battery power. He is also Chair of Element 2, the Hydrogen infrastructure company.
Books
Vince’s recent books include
- Eclipsing the West (Manchester University Press, 2025)
- Partnership and Politics in a Divided Decade (The Real Press, 2022)
- How to be a Politician (Ebury/Penguin, 2022)
- The Chinese Conundrum (Alma Press, 2021)
- Money and Power (Atlantic, 2021)
- Open Arms (Corvus, 2016) A political thriller
- After the Storm (Atlantic, 2015)
- The Storm (Atlantic, 2010) about the financial crisis
- Free Radical (Atlantic, 2009) a biography
- Globalisation and Global Governance 1996, Chatham House
Charities
Vince is an active supporter of several national and local charities acting, for example, as patron or president continuing work begun as MP.
These include Speakers for Schools, talking to school children about careers and political life; the Mulberry Centre which provides emotional and practical support to cancer sufferers; Shooting Star, a children’s hospice in Hampton; Crossroads Care helping carers in the Richmond borough supporting carers across the age range; Off the Record, a Richmond charity advising young people with mental health problems; Together at One which provides a lunch club for adults with mental health issues; and OKMT which provides music therapy for children with learning difficulties. Vince also supports Jeevika (village development in India based on Schumacher principles) and Help a Poor Child, a Goan charity building schools in Africa and India.
Campaigning
Vince was appointed Vice President of the European Movement with a programme of restoring economic and political relations with the EU.
Vince has been a member of the Liberal Democrats and its antecedent parties since the formation of the SDP and was Lib Dem MP for Twickenham 1997-2015 and 2017-19 and party leader 2017-19
He is Chair of Business for Europe, in the European Movement, campaigning to rebuild economic relations with the EU. He is also Chair of the cross-party Housing Policy Oversight and Delivery Committee which monitors government housing policy and offers constructive criticism (supported by the Family Building Society).
Dancing
Vince has been an enthusiastic Ballroom and Latin dancer for 30 years. His teacher is Cheyenne Russell with her dance partner, Nick Kelly.
He was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing (Xmas edition, 2010)