British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet Reshuffle: David Cameron’s Surprising Return to Politics

The reshuffle of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet had been in the air for a few weeks. But the fact that Sunak would appoint his predecessor David Cameron as Foreign Secretary was something that no one outside Sunak’s circle of confidants could have foreseen. Until Cameron suddenly got out of a car in Downing Street on Monday morning and walked to his own former official residence. His return to politics is quite a surprise.

It is already exceptional that a British former prime minister returns to a ‘lower’ job in a cabinet – that last happened in 1970. And then Cameron is not a member of the House of Commons either; he resigned in September 2016. Sunak made special arrangements for Cameron to become a member of the House of Lords. So now he is Lord David Cameron. In the United Kingdom, ministerial rules only allow members of parliament to sit in government. Cameron will therefore not be accountable in the House of Commons, but must do so to his fellow lords.

With this reshuffle – a whole host of ministers were dismissed or appointed on Monday – Prime Minister Sunak is trying to strengthen his cabinet and his own position as leader of the Conservative Party. Political experts had seen it coming that Minister of the Interior and right-winger Suella Braverman had to leave. Her position had become untenable after an opinion article in The Timesin which she accused the police of harboring sympathies for “pro-Palestinian gangs.”

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But Cameron, that’s a different story. His appointment runs counter to Sunak’s recent attempts to portray himself as someone who wants to bring change to the country. Already a difficult message as leader of a party that has been in power for thirteen years. At the party congress, just last month, Sunak said he wants to get rid of “30 years of vested interests standing in the way of change.” Bringing in one of your prominent predecessors – Cameron was party leader for eleven years and prime minister for six years – is not an obvious move.

This appointment is a big gamble by Sunak and was intended to win back the reasonable, liberal Conservative voters in the south of England the interpretation in British media Monday. The Liberal Democrats are now winning the most by-elections for vacant House of Commons seats in that corner of the country. Voters there see Cameron as the last sensible prime minister that the Conservatives have provided.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, his international experience and stature can also come in handy in an unstable world with major conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. It is problematic, for example, that in Cameron’s time the British attitude towards China was much friendlier than it is now. Sunak mentioned it earlier “naive” that Cameron drank beer in the pub with President Xi Jinping during his time. Last fall Cameron lobbied for a project in Sri Lanka that falls under the Chinese government’s New Silk Road.

Brexit-referendum

Cameron also evokes memories of division. Few politicians have their names more linked to the Brexit referendum than his. It was Cameron who presented the referendum on European Union membership to British voters promised. But in 2016 it lost under his leadership Remain-camp. The Leavers won narrowly: the UK would leave the EU. Sunak was from the start, against Cameron, in favor of leaving the EU. But this will not be a reconciliation of the two camps within the party, as Sunak is further less right-wing than the most fanatical Brexiteers.

For Sunak, the first reactions were to his reshuffle not very encouraging. From polls Research agency YouGov showed on Monday that 38 percent thought Cameron’s appointment was a bad decision, 24 percent thought it was a good idea and 38 percent did not know. A larger proportion of voters also thought that Cameron will do poorly than that he will do well. Most Britons no longer view the ruling party very favorably.

2023-11-13 20:20:39
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