JO Swinson has said she may run in future for the UK leadership of the Liberal Democrats.
The former minister, re-elected as the MP for East Dunbartonshire after a two-year gap, recently ruled herself out as a contender to replace Tim Farron, and is now the party deputy.
Sir Vince Cable, 74, is now expected to become LibDem leader.
However Ms Swinson, 37, told the BBC Sunday Politics Scotland that she had only ruled herself out for the short term, and could envisage applying for the role in future.
She said: “It’s not a job that I want to be doing at the moment. It’s a huge job to take on that I don’t think you can take on lightly.”
But asked whether she might run for leader in future she said: “I’m a politician and I’ve learned that you should never say never. You can’t predict what will happen in the future.”
Asked about speculation Sir Vince might step down before the next scheduled Westminster election in 2022, creating a vacancy, she said: “I’m not saying never. In politics you don’t rule things out. You have to look at the situation at the time.”
Mr Farron quit after the LibDems went from eight MPs to twelve at the election, saying he felt “remaining faithful to Christ" was incompatible with leading his party.
He had faced repeated criticism over his reluctance to say if he considered gay sex a sin.
Mr Swinson said Mr Farron had been “unhappy” with his “inner turmoil”.
Sir Vince said Mr Farron had not handled the issue well.
He told Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday that Mr Farron had done "a great job" in helping the Lib Dems recover from the 2015 election, but added: "He did, as he himself acknowledged, not handle that whole issue very well at reconciling his own personal faith with his public positions on gay rights and other issues.
“A lot of people have private views deriving from their religion, but they have to put these to one side when they're enacting public policy.
"He acknowledged that he hadn't got that right and that's why he stood down."
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