The defeated prime minister, the end of a career. Seven years later, he is back.
Seven years after staking his premiership on a referendum and losing, David Cameron has re-entered the arena — not through election, but through appointment to the House of Lords and a seat in Rishi Sunak's Cabinet as Foreign Secretary. It is the kind of return that history occasionally permits: the fallen figure, recalled in a moment of need, handed a stage on which to rewrite or deepen his story. Whether this represents redemption, pragmatism, or simply the recycling tendencies of a party under pressure, Cameron now carries Britain's voice into some of the world's most consequential crises.
- A man whose political career appeared to end in the early hours of June 24, 2016, has walked back into the heart of British government — this time without a mandate from voters.
- The Greensill lobbying scandal, in which Cameron privately pressed ministers for favours on behalf of a firm that later collapsed, still shadows his reputation and fuels accusations of entitlement.
- His record in office — austerity cuts that reshaped public life, a failed Syria vote, and a 'golden era' with China that now reads as a cautionary tale — is being relitigated in real time.
- Sunak, who once called closer economic ties with China 'naive' and publicly clashed with Cameron over HS2, has nonetheless chosen him to manage UK relations with Beijing, Kyiv, and Gaza simultaneously.
- Opposition voices, including his former Liberal Democrat coalition partners, are calling the peerage appointment a corruption of the honours system and demanding it be blocked.
- Cameron's second act is already underway, but whether it rehabilitates his legacy or simply adds new chapters to its contradictions remains the open question hanging over Westminster.
David Cameron resigned the morning after Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016 — a defeat that seemed to close the book on his political life. Seven years later, Rishi Sunak has reopened it, appointing Cameron as Foreign Secretary and elevating him to the House of Lords to make it possible.
The intervening years were not quiet. Cameron's work at Greensill Capital, a financial firm that later collapsed, led to revelations that he had privately lobbied ministers to secure the company access to a government loan scheme during the pandemic. The episode cast a long shadow over his post-political reputation and reignited debates about the revolving door between Westminster and the private sector.
His time in Downing Street had its own complications. The austerity programme he pursued with Chancellor George Osborne cut deep into public services. His foreign policy record was uneven — parliament rejected his push for military action in Syria, and his celebrated 'golden era' of relations with China now looks like a miscalculation as Western ties with Beijing have sharply deteriorated.
The pairing with Sunak carries its own tensions. Sunak backed Brexit against Cameron's wishes, has described closer economic engagement with China as 'naive,' and publicly criticised Cameron's record on infrastructure after the HS2 cancellation. Now they share a Cabinet table.
Critics, including the Liberal Democrats who once governed alongside Cameron, have called the peerage appointment an affront to democratic norms. Layla Moran described it as carrying 'the stench of desperation.' Defenders point to precedent — former leaders and party figures have held the Foreign Secretary role before — but precedent has done little to quiet the noise.
Cameron now faces Ukraine, Gaza, and a fraught relationship with China as his immediate brief. His legacy — contested, complicated, and unfinished — will be shaped in part by what he does next.
David Cameron walked out of Number 10 on the morning of June 24, 2016, and announced his resignation. Behind him lay the wreckage of a political gamble: he had staked his premiership on keeping Britain in the European Union, and the country had voted to leave. Most people who remember Cameron remember that image—the defeated prime minister, the end of a career. Seven years later, he is back.
On Tuesday, Cameron joined Rishi Sunak's Cabinet as Foreign Secretary, a position that will require him to navigate the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, and a deteriorating relationship with China. To take the role, he entered the House of Lords. It is a remarkable return for a man whose political fortunes seemed finished after the Brexit referendum.
But those seven years were not spent entirely out of the public eye. In 2018, Cameron took a role at Greensill Capital, a financial services firm. When the company failed, it emerged that he had privately lobbied government ministers to secure access to an emergency coronavirus loan scheme for the firm. The scandal exposed the murky terrain of Westminster lobbying and prompted calls for tighter regulation. It was a stain on his record that has not faded.
Before the Brexit defeat, Cameron had enjoyed considerable electoral success. In 2010, he defeated Gordon Brown and entered Number 10 at the head of a coalition government with Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats. With his chancellor George Osborne, he pursued aggressive austerity—deep cuts to public services and welfare spending, all in service of reducing the deficit. He spoke of a "Big Society" and tried to rebrand the Conservative Party after years in opposition. On the world stage, he grappled with Libya and Syria, though his record there was mixed. When he sought parliamentary approval for military action against Bashar al-Assad in Syria, MPs rejected him. He also cultivated what he called a "golden era" of relations with China and President Xi Jinping. That language has aged poorly. Western ties with China have deteriorated sharply over the past decade.
Sunak's decision to bring Cameron back is surprising in its own way. Sunak himself backed Brexit, defying his then-leader. He has been critical of his Conservative predecessors, using his first foreign policy speech to call the decade of closer economic ties with China "naive." At his party conference, he criticized "30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one." When Sunak announced the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2, Cameron—already a peer—publicly rebuked him, calling it the wrong choice. Now they are in government together.
The appointment is not without precedent. Alec Douglas-Home served as foreign secretary after a brief spell as prime minister. William Hague, another former Conservative leader, held the same post under Cameron himself. But precedent does not silence criticism. The Liberal Democrats, Cameron's former coalition partners, have called for his peerage to be blocked. Layla Moran, a party spokesperson, said the appointment had "the stench of desperation" and called Cameron "scandal-hit" and "unelected." She argued that handing him a peerage made a mockery of the honours system.
Cameron's legacy remains contested. His austerity programme shaped a generation of British politics. His foreign policy had moments of ambition and moments of failure. His attempt to keep Britain in Europe ended in defeat. And his post-political career was marked by a lobbying scandal that raised hard questions about access and influence in Westminster. Now, at a moment when Britain faces multiple international crises, he has been asked to represent the country on the world stage. Whether this second act will rehabilitate his legacy or simply extend its complications remains to be seen.
Notable Quotes
Bringing back a scandal-hit, unelected former prime minister who has been criticising Sunak's government at every turn has the stench of desperation.— Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat spokesperson
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does his return matter now, specifically? What changed?
Sunak needed someone with global standing and experience. Cameron has both, even if his record is mixed. But there's also a political calculation—Sunak's own government is fragile, and bringing back a heavyweight from the past can look like strength or desperation depending on who you ask.
The Greensill scandal seems like a real problem for him. How does he move past that?
He doesn't, really. It's part of his record now. The question is whether his experience and relationships with world leaders outweigh the damage. The Liberal Democrats clearly think it doesn't. They see it as disqualifying.
You mentioned his China strategy didn't age well. What was he actually trying to do?
He genuinely believed closer economic ties with China would be mutually beneficial and would integrate China into the Western order. It was optimistic, maybe naïve. The world moved in a different direction—China became more assertive, the West became more wary. Now he has to manage that shift.
Does Sunak actually trust him, given all the public criticism?
That's the real puzzle. Sunak has been openly critical of Cameron's approach to China, called it naive. Now they're in the same government. Either Sunak believes Cameron has learned something, or he's willing to set aside those differences because he needs the credibility Cameron brings.
What does Cameron have to prove now?
That he can operate on the world stage without the baggage of domestic politics dragging him down. Gaza, Ukraine, China—these are massive, complex problems. If he can navigate them with some success, it changes how people remember him. If not, this becomes another chapter in a contested legacy.