How Britain’s ex-PM David Cameron has returned from political wilderness

Suella’s out and David’s in. British prime minister Rishi Sunak shocked the country and the media when he announced his new Foreign Secretary – David Cameron. The announcement was part of Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet reshuffle, which saw the ouster of Home Secretary Suella Braverman and her job going to James Cleverly. This marks the return of former British prime minister David Cameron, who has kept a low profile since resigning in 2016 – mostly confining himself to writing his memoirs and a number of business roles. The rise of David Cameron Cameron, a son of a stockbroker, was educated at elite boarding school Eton and Oxford University, where he was admitted to the Bullingdon Club, a hard-drinking, socially exclusive student group. After his education, he worked for the Conservatives as an advisor before a stint in public relations which ended when he was elected to British parliament in 2001. Cameron rose swiftly through the ranks of the party – which was then struggling badly against then prime minister Tony Blair’s Labour government – and was elected leader in 2005 at the age of 39. He tried to “detoxify” the party brand in part by avoiding discussion of the European Union, which had split the Conservatives since Margaret Thatcher’s premiership in the 1980s. At the 2010 general election, Cameron became the youngest prime minister for 200 years, but the centre-right Conservatives did not win enough seats to govern alone and had to form a coalition with the centrist Liberal Democrats. The coalition was dominated by spending cuts as Britain emerged from recession, while foreign policy debate was largely hijacked by Conservative wrangling over the EU. A previous risky referendum gamble paid off when Scotland voted to stay as part of Britain in 2014. After five years in coalition, the Conservatives won a surprise clear majority in the May 2015 general election, allowing them to rule alone. The win meant that the EU referendum – first promised by Cameron in 2013 to placate his restive party, but which many in Westminster said he never believed would happen – became a reality. [caption id=“attachment_13384142” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] David Cameron, now 57, has stayed away from mainstream politics since his resignation in 2016. File image/Reuters[/caption] Brexit and Cameron’s downfall The campaign for Brexit was brutal for Cameron. Some of his most loyal lieutenants including then Justice Minister Michael Gove – godfather to one of Cameron’s children – said they would campaign for Brexit. During the campaign, Cameron led from the front with a barrage of speeches arguing that Britain’s economy would be badly hit by Brexit. However, he failed to counter the ‘Leave’ camp’s argument that immigration from EU countries needed to be cut to reduce the strain on public services, and that this could only happen if Britain left. And on 23 June 2016, Cameron lost the Brexit vote. Within hours of the vote, he announced his resignation, handing over power to Theresa May. “This is how a political life ends: with a crash, not a whimper,” Scottish journalist Alex Massie had then written in Foreign Policy. “David Cameron’s place in history is now assured. He is the man who took the United Kingdom out of the European Union.” [caption id=“attachment_13384102” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Britain’s prime minister Rishi Sunak holds a wreath next to Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, former prime ministers Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, and Theresa May as they attend the National Service of Remembrance at The Cenotaph on Whitehall in London, Britain. Sunak and Cameron have had differences in the past. File image/Reuters[/caption] Significance of Cameron’s return Sunak’s decision to appoint Cameron has come as a surprise to political watchers for two reasons. First, it’s rare for a non-lawmaker to take a senior government post, and it has been decades since a former prime minister held a Cabinet job. Secondly, Cameron and Sunak have had their differences. This was even mentioned by the new foreign secretary, who wrote on X: “Though I may have disagreed with some individual decisions, it is clear to me that Rishi Sunak is a strong and capable prime minister, who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time. I want to help him to deliver the security and prosperity our country needs and be part of the strongest possible team that serves the United Kingdom and that can be presented to the country when the general election is held.”

The Prime Minister has asked me to serve as his Foreign Secretary and I have gladly accepted.

We are facing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East. At this time of profound global change, it has rarely been more…

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 13, 2023

But what does this mean for the party and Sunak, himself? According to the BBC, Cameron’s return has a wow factor to it and Sunak will hope that this is finally the thing that gets him and his government noticed and can change the political weather. It will show that Sunak is capable of bridging the divide within the Conservative political family. Moreover, it will please moderates in the party, who have been dismayed by Braverman’s aggressively rightwing rhetoric on issues such as immigration, policing and homelessness. Former BBC political editor Nick Robinson also noted that Cameron’s inclusion will help Sunak “focus on the election”. “He knows & has worked with current world leaders – Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte & others,” he wrote on X. However, the Labour party has slammed Sunak and said the appointment of Cameron is a “last gasp act of desperation”. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated: “David Cameron was a disastrous PM. This is a last gasp act of desperation from a government devoid of talent and ideas. Amid international crisis, Sunak has chosen an unelected failure from the past who MPs cannot even hold to account.” With inputs from agencies