David Cameron Makes Political Comeback as Rishi Sunak Appoints him Foreign Secretary

Former Prime Minister David Cameron leaving 10. Downing Street after being appointed foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak's ministerial reshuffle on Nov. 13, 2023. Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pulled a political rabbit out of the hat when he appointed one of his predecessors, David Cameron, as the new foreign secretary as part of a dramatic cabinet reshuffle.

Mr. Cameron—who will be given a peerage so he can sit as Lord Cameron in the House of Lords—replaces James Cleverly, who has been moved to home secretary following the sacking of Suella Braverman.

The move marks an astonishing political comeback for Mr. Cameron, 57, who resigned in embarrassing circumstances on the day after the Brexit referendum in June 2016.

He had chosen to hold the referendum but he campaigned vigorously for Britain to stay in the European Union, a choice which the majority of voters rejected.

Mr. Cameron was eventually replaced by Theresa May but she was unable to push a Brexit deal through Parliament and was herself ousted in favour of Boris Johnson, who eventually skippered Britain out of the EU after winning a landslide election in Dec. 2019.

First Ex-PM to Serve in Cabinet Since 1960s

The decision to appoint Mr. Cameron came as a complete shock to MPs and political journalists and he will become the first former prime minister to serve in a cabinet since Alec Douglas-Home in the 1960s.

There has already been considerable concerns raised about Mr. Cameron’s close ties with the government in Beijing.

Last year Mr. Sunak described the era of co-operation between Britain and China under Mr. Cameron and Ms. May as “naive.”

Mr. Cameron has also been critical of Mr. Sunak’s recent decision to scrap the Manchester leg of HS2, which had been one of his pet infrastructure projects.

At last month’s Conservative Party conference Mr. Sunak had been aiming to repackage himself as a candidate for change and dismissed much of what had happened under his predecessors.

But that will be hard to maintain during the general election campaign with Mr. Cameron by his side.

On Monday, Mr. Cameron said: “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 new foreign secretary added.

The speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, told told MPs, “This is not the first time in recent years that a Cabinet minister has been appointed in the House of Lords, but given the gravity of the current international situation, it is especially important that this House is able to scrutinise the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office effectively.”

He said he had commissioned advice from the clerks about how to enhance parliamentary scrutiny of Mr. Cameron and he added, “I also look forward to hearing the government’s proposals on how the foreign secretary will be properly accountable to this House.”

Labour Says Cameron is a ‘Life Raft’

Pat McFadden, a shadow cabinet minister and Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “A few weeks ago, Rishi Sunak said David Cameron was part of a failed status quo, now he’s bringing him back as his life raft.”

“This puts to bed the prime minister’s laughable claim to offer change from 13 years of Tory failure,” added Mr. McFadden.

The appointment of Mr. Cameron eclipsed the original big news of the cabinet reshuffle—the sacking of Home Secretary Suella Braverman and her replacement with Mr. Sunak loyalist James Cleverly.

Ms. Braverman said she would have, “more to say in due course” about her departure, which leaves her—like Liz Truss—as another embittered big beast on the backbenches.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has yet to comment on the government reshuffle but the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Suella Braverman was never fit to be home secretary. Rishi Sunak knew this and he still appointed her. It was the prime minister’s sheer cowardice that kept her in the job even for this long. We are witnessing a broken party and a broken Government, both of which are breaking this country.”

Ms. Braverman’s successor, Mr. Cleverly, said it was an “honour“ to be appointed as home secretary and he added: “The goal is clear. My job is to keep people in this country safe.”

He insisted he would maintain his predecessor’s stance on illegal immigration and in particular “stopping the boats” across the English Channel.

The reshuffle also saw the departure of Therese Coffey—who had been in the Cabinet since 2019—as environment secretary.

In a letter to 10. Downing Street, Ms. Coffey said it was, “the right time to step back from government” but she went on to say she would support Mr. Sunak on the backbenches and would work to gain a Conservative majority at the election, which she believed was “in the national interest.”

Ms. Coffey has been replaced as environment secretary by Steve Barclay, who moves sideways from his current role as health secretary.

The new health secretary is Victoria Atkins, who has been promoted from financial secretary to the Treasury, a role which has been given to Laura Trott.

Jeremy Quin quit as paymaster general while Will Quince and Neil O’Brien both resigned as junior health ministers.

Another casualty was schools minister Nick Gibb—who has been praised for his work on encourage literacy in children using phonics—who said he was also going to step down at the election to take a job as a diplomat.

PA Media contributed to this report.