Former Conservative prime minister David Cameron has been named foreign secretary in a shock appointment as part of the Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle.
The stunning move will see the Tory grandee – who occupied No 10 between 2010 and 2016 – enter the Lords so he can take up one of the top jobs in government.
James Cleverly has been made home secretary after Suella Braverman was sacked by Mr Sunak over her unauthorised op-ed accusing the police of bias in handling pro-Palestinian protests.
A No 10 source said Mr Sunak had asked Ms Braverman “to leave government and she has accepted”, with Mr Cleverly moving from the Foreign Office to the Home Office.
The Conservatives said Mr Sunak is carrying out a wider reshuffle which “strengthens his team in government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future”.
Labour said the surprise return of Mr Cameron – who has criticised Mr Sunak the decision to scrap HS2 – made the Tory leader’s claim to be the change candidate “laughable”.
Keir Starmer’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said: “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.”
The Liberal Democrats said Mr Cameron’s peerage should be blocked given his “shady past” – highlighting his central role in the Greensill lobbying scandal.
The party’s foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said Mr Sunak’s move had the “stench of desperation”, adding: “Handing him a peerage makes a mockery of our honours system. Cameron’s peerage should be blocked given his shady past.”
Mr Cameron’s work lobbying for government loans for the failed finance firm Greensill sparked a scandal in 2021. The ex-Tory leader admitted he should have communicated with ministers via “formal channels” rather than through text and WhatsApp.
King Charles has handed Mr Cameron the “dignity of a Barony”, No 10 said on the hastily-awarded peerage that allows him to take up the foreign secretary role.
Lord Cameron has strongly criticised Mr Sunak’s move to scrap HS2’s northern leg at the recent Tory conference in Manchester – saying the “wrong” decision meant a “once-in-a-generation opportunity was lost”.
The Cameron administration had hailed a “golden era” of UK-China co-operation – something Mr Sunak described as “naive” last year following rising tensions with Beijing.
But, in his first words in his new role, the new foreign secretary said that while “I may have disagreed with some individual decisions” made by Mr Sunak, he said the current Tory leader was “a strong and capable prime minister, who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time”.
Mr Cameron added: “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.”
Former Tory MP Theresa May congratulated Mr Cameron on his return to government. “His immense experience on the international stage will be invaluable at this time of great uncertainty in our world. Looking forward to working together again!” she tweeted.
But Tory MP Sir Michael Fabricant complained that Mr Cameron “won’t be accountable to MPs other than before a select committee” – noting that he will not be allowed to make statements, answer urgent questions, or take part in foreign office questions in the Commons.
He becomes the 15th former prime minister to serve in a later government led by someone else, following in the footsteps of former Tory PMs Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Neville Chamberlain and Arthur Balfour.
Responding to her sacking, Ms Braverman said: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary.” Ominously for Mr Sunak, she added: “I will have more to say in due course.”
In a sign of bitter divisions have been reignited, the former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns said Ms Braverman had been “sacked for speaking the truth”. The right-winger said it was a “bad call by Rishi caving in to the left”.
Mr Sunak should “prepare for war” following the sacking of Ms Braverman, according to the former Tory MP Neil Parish.
He said: “Rishi Sunak better prepare for war I think because of course she is very much, Suella, the standard bearer of the right of the party.”
News of Ms Braverman’s exit came as Tory defence minister James Heappey was touring broadcast studios. He had told LBC that Mr Sunak and his team in No 10 had been “very clear she has his confidence”.
But he was told on air during an ITV Good Morning Britain interview that she had been sacked, leaving him to say: “Your viewers will be enjoying my discomfort.”