David Cameron to return to cabinet table after seven yearson November 14, 2023 at 5:03 am

New Foreign Secretary David Cameron will return to the cabinet table for the first time in more than seven years this morning after his dramatic recall to government.

His appointment came as part of a cabinet reshuffle by Rishi Sunak.

He replaces James Cleverly, who became home secretary after the prime minister sacked Suella Braverman.

Lord Cameron will not be the only old hand to find themselves back at the cabinet table on Tuesday.

Former Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom has taken on a junior role in the Department for Health and Social Care, while Damian Hinds has become a minister in the Department for Education, which he used to run.

Lord Cameron had been out of Parliament since he stood down as prime minister in 2016 and has been given a seat in the House of Lords to enable him to take up his new position.

The ex-PM spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday evening.

The pair “reiterated the strength and depth of the relationship between the UK and the US”, the Foreign Office said.

“They discussed the conflict in the Middle East, Israel’s right to self defence and the need for humanitarian pauses to allow the safe passage of aid into Gaza,” the foreign office posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“They also expressed their continued support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s illegal war of aggression,” it said.

In a speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London on Monday night, Mr Sunak said he was “pleased to have appointed a new foreign secretary”.

The prime minister also urged Israel to protect civilians in Gaza, where more than 11,000 people have been killed since Israel started a bombing campaign last month.

The aerial assault on Gaza was launched after Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 200 others on 7 October.

Mr Sunak has said the new cabinet is “a united team”.

But not everyone in the Conservative Party is pleased about the return of Lord Cameron and the new-look cabinet.

One backbencher, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has already submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister. There would need to be 53 before his leadership is threatened.

And Conservative former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said the Tories were “in danger of losing votes to the Reform party”.

Reform leader Richard Tice was “as happy as can be” when he saw him earlier, he told BBC Newsnight, adding: “The Champagne will be flowing in the Reform party headquarters tonight after what’s been done today.”

Opposition parties have been quick to ask whether bringing back a prime minister who left office seven years ago is really the fresh start Mr Sunak claims to offer.

Senior Labour MP Pat McFadden said Lord Cameron’s appointment “puts to bed the prime minister’s laughable claim to offer change from 13 years of Tory failure”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it “sounds like desperation”.

The Lib Dems are also calling for Lord Cameron’s peerage to be blocked, referring to his lobbying for collapsed finance company Greensill Capital.

Lord Cameron said he had resigned from the various business and charitable roles – including president of the Alzheimer’s Society – he had held since quitting as prime minister.

“I have one job – to be foreign secretary and work with the prime minister for the UK to be as secure and prosperous as possible in a difficult and dangerous world,” he said.

The foreign secretary insisted the Greensill affair was “in the past” and had been “dealt with”.

Mrs Braverman’s sacking kickstarted a major cabinet reshuffle by Rishi Sunak, as he reshapes his top team ahead of next week’s Autumn Statement.

Steve Barclay has replaced Therese Coffey as environment secretary, with Treasury minister Victoria Atkins promoted to replace him as health secretary.

Meanwhile, former transport minister Richard Holden has been appointed Tory party chairman, and Laura Trott becomes chief secretary to the Treasury, replacing John Glen.

In other changes: