In surprise move, David Cameron returns to U.K. government
Former British prime minister David Cameron, who resigned after the Brexit vote, was named U.K. foreign secretary on Nov. 13. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, divisive for her hard line against pro-Palestinian protests, was fired.
David Cameron walks outside 10 Downing Street, the U.K. prime minister's residence, in London on Nov. 13. In a highly unusual move, Mr. Cameron was named Britain's foreign secretary by P.M. Rishi Sunak, who also fired divisive Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday.
Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
London
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron made an unexpected return to high office on Nov. 13, becoming foreign secretary in a major shakeup of the Conservative government that also saw the firing of divisive Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Mr. Cameron, who led the United Kingdom鈥檚 government between 2010 and 2016 and triggered the country鈥檚 exit from the European Union, was appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a Cabinet shuffle in which he sacked Ms. Braverman, a law-and-order hardliner who drew anger for accusing police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters.
She was replaced by James Cleverly, who had been foreign secretary. Mr. Sunak was making further changes to the government throughout the day, with Environment Secretary Therese Coffey saying she would be leaving her job.
The bold changes are an attempt by Mr. Sunak to reset his faltering government. The Conservatives have been in power for 13 years, but opinion polls for months have put them 15 to 20 points behind the opposition Labour Party amid a stagnating economy, persistently high inflation, an overstretched health care system, and a wave of public sector strikes.
Mr. Cameron鈥檚 appointment came as a surprise to seasoned politics-watchers. It鈥檚 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.
The government said Mr. Cameron had been appointed to Parliament鈥檚 unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords. The last foreign secretary to serve in the Lords, rather than the elected House of Commons, was Peter Carington, who was part of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 government in the 1980s.
Mr. Cameron said Britain was 鈥渇acing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East.鈥�
鈥淲hile I have been out of front-line politics for the last seven years, I hope that my experience 鈥� as Conservative leader for 11 years and prime minister for six 鈥� will assist me in helping the prime minister to meet these vital challenges,鈥� he said in a statement.
Mr. Cameron鈥檚 foreign policy legacy is mixed. As prime minister, he backed NATO-led military intervention in Libya in 2011 that toppled Moammar Gadhafi and deepened that country鈥檚 chaos. In 2013, he tried and failed to gain Parliament鈥檚 backing for U.K. airstrikes against President Bashar al-Assad鈥檚 forces in Syria. He also announced a short-lived 鈥済olden era鈥� in U.K.-China relations, shortly before that relationship soured.
And he will be forever remembered as the unwitting author of Brexit, a rupture that roiled Britain鈥檚 politics, economy, and place in the world. Mr. Cameron called a 2016 EU membership referendum, confident the country would vote to stay in the bloc. He resigned the day after voters opted to leave.
Bronwen Maddox, director of international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said Mr. Cameron 鈥渨ill bring undoubted strengths into the top team and to the U.K.鈥檚 relationships abroad,鈥� where many will welcome 鈥渁 heavyweight and moderate foreign secretary.鈥�
鈥淭he concern must be, however, that these could be outweighed by the controversial legacy he brings too,鈥� she said.
Mr. Sunak was a strong backer of the winning 鈥渓eave鈥� side in the referendum. But his decision to appoint Mr. Cameron and sack Ms. Braverman is likely to infuriate the Conservative Party鈥檚 right wing and inflame tensions in the party that Mr. Sunak has sought to soothe.
Prominent right-wing lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg said sacking Ms. Braverman was 鈥渁 mistake, because Suella understood what the British voter thought and was trying to do something about it.鈥�
Mr. Sunak had been under growing pressure to fire Ms. Braverman 鈥� a hard-liner popular with the party鈥檚 authoritarian wing 鈥� from one of the most senior jobs in government, responsible for handling immigration and policing.
In a highly unusual attack on the police last week, Ms. Braverman said London鈥檚 police force was ignoring lawbreaking by 鈥減ro-Palestinian mobs.鈥� She described demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza as 鈥渉ate marchers.鈥�
On Nov. 11, far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a large pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands through the streets of London. Critics accused Ms. Braverman of helping to inflame tensions.
Last week, Ms. Braverman wrote an article for the Times of London in which she said police 鈥減lay favorites when it comes to protesters鈥� and acted more leniently toward pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Black Lives Matter supporters than toward right-wing protesters or soccer hooligans.
The article was not approved in advance by the prime minister鈥檚 office, as would usually be the case.
Ms. Braverman said Nov. 13 that 鈥渋t has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary,鈥� adding that she would 鈥渉ave more to say in due course.鈥�
Ms. Braverman, a lawyer, has become a leader of the party鈥檚 populist wing by advocating ever-tougher curbs on migration and a war on human rights protections, liberal social values, and what she has called the 鈥渢ofu-eating wokerati.鈥� Last month she called migration a 鈥渉urricane鈥� that would bring 鈥渕illions more immigrants to these shores, uncontrolled and unmanageable.鈥�
As home secretary, Ms. Braverman championed the government鈥檚 stalled plan to send asylum-seekers who arrive in Britain in boats on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A U.K. Supreme Court ruling on whether the policy is legal is due Nov. 15.
Critics say Ms. Braverman has been building her profile to position herself for a party leadership contest that could come if the Conservatives lose power in an election expected next year.
Last month Mr. Sunak tried to paint his government as a force of change, saying he would break a 鈥�30-year status quo鈥� that includes the governments of Mr. Cameron and other Conservative predecessors.
鈥淎 few weeks ago, Rishi Sunak said David Cameron was part of a failed status quo. Now he鈥檚 bringing him back as his life raft,鈥� said Labour lawmaker Pat McFadden.
As well as bringing about Brexit, Mr. Cameron鈥檚 government imposed years of public-spending cuts after the 2008 global financial crisis that have frayed the country鈥檚 welfare system and state-funded health service. After leaving office, he was caught up in a scandal over his lobbying for Greensill Capital, a financial services firm that later collapsed.
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said Mr. Cameron鈥檚 appointment was a sign of the government鈥檚 鈥渄esperation.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to believe that this is going to impress voters, whether they are convinced Brexiteers who despise David Cameron for being a remainer, or convinced remainers who despise David Cameron for holding and losing a referendum,鈥� he said.
This story was reported by The Associated Press