Ex-PM David Cameron makes shock return to UK government

LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak brought back former leader David Cameron as foreign minister on Monday in a reshuffle triggered by his firing of interior minister Suella Braverman.

It was the latest reset for a prime minister whose party is badly lagging the Labour Party before an election expected next year, and the return of Cameron to government suggested Sunak wanted to bring in more centrist, experienced hands rather than appease the right of his party which supported Braverman.

Sunak seemed to have brought forward a long-planned reshuffle to bring in allies and remove ministers he felt were not performing.

In a surprise move, Cameron, who was ousted from power after his gamble to call a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union in 2016 backfired, was made foreign minister.

Cameron, has kept a low profile since resigning in 2016 — mostly confining himself to writing his memoirs and a number of business roles.

He called the referendum that resulted in Brexit as a way of uniting his Conservative Party, betting that he would win easily with the powers of persuasion that won him two elections.

But he, and the rest of the pro-EU camp, lost the vote on June 23, 2016 and Cameron announced his resignation as prime minister within hours.

He handed power over to Theresa May the following month.

Cameron’s first election victory in 2010 ended 13 years of Labour government. He had been widely praised for giving his party a broader centrist appeal.

He worked for the Conservatives as an advisor before a stint in public relations, which ended when he was elected to 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.

At the 2010 general election, Cameron became the youngest premier 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.