In the baying arena of the House of Commons, Rishi Sunak seemed lost for words. What, a Labour MP asked, did the British prime minister consider to be the finest foreign policy achievement of his new foreign secretary, David Cameron? “There are many, many to pick from,” Sunak floundered. Was the Eurosceptic PM really going to say “Brexit”?
Cameron, the former premier who accidentally led Britain out of the EU, is back on the political frontline. But some Conservatives are wondering why. Rather than the largely-forgotten 2013 G8 summit in Northern Ireland, which a blustering Sunak landed on as an answer, Cameron is more likely to be remembered for calling, and losing, a referendum on EU membership. Cameron had warned it would be an “act of economic self-harm”, but a majority of the voting public ignored him; on June 24 2016, with the pound crashing around his ears, he walked out into Downing Street to announce he was quitting.
After seven years in the wilderness — punctuated by his involvement in the biggest Westminster lobbying scandal of recent times — Cameron was yesterday’s man. But on Monday, a familiar figure — with just a few more lines on that smooth face — strode into Number 10 to accept Sunak’s offer of a job in his revamped cabinet.