Rishi Sunak faces a dilemma about how to deploy a predecessor he appointed foreign secretary but who now appears to have overshadowed him abroad and increasingly at home.
As if to stress his renewed world standing, David Cameron made a detour on his US trip to meet with former president, and current Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Monday.
Hoping to convince Trump of the need for continued US aid to Ukraine, Lord Cameron, “and allies awaiting a debrief, will hope his involvement elevated the argument above the attrition of US politics and offered clarity on a crisis”, reported Sky News.
‘Weight and heft’
This week’s US trip comes after what the Financial Times called “an extraordinary rehabilitation” of Cameron’s reputation, from discredited former PM blamed for calling and losing the Brexit referendum to a “high-profile figure on the international stage” once again – all in less than six months after accepting Rishi Sunak’s surprise offer to become foreign secretary.
Senior British diplomats told the paper he has brought “weight and heft” to the Foreign Office, paying tribute to his work ethic and arguing he has injected fresh confidence and ideas into British foreign policy.
“Being a former prime minister lends him stature and opens doors”, noted The Guardian, while as a member of the House of Lords rather than an MP, Cameron “has no constituency to worry about, nor does he have to hurry back from abroad for tricky Commons votes”.
A series of short, slick promotional videos posted on X highlighting his first 100 days in office and his recent trip to Brussels to mark the 75th anniversary of Nato clearly demonstrated both his grasp of what is expected of a successful foreign secretary, and how to present this to the world.
Cameron’s communication skills were a “key factor” in his appointment, said Rachel Cunliffe in the New Statesman. “The trouble is it’s all working out better than expected. The contrast between the former prime minister and the current one is impossible to miss. And it’s not doing Sunak any favours.”
‘He did win an election for us’
Unusually, said The Guardian, Cameron “seems to have been given licence to set British foreign policy” while Sunak “focuses on domestic issues ahead of the general election”.
Downing Street insists this is all part of the plan and has denied any suggestion of a split with Cameron on high-profile stances such as his suggestion that the UK was prepared to diverge from the US and recognise a Palestinian state.
“Frankly, I don’t think Rishi Sunak is very interested in foreign affairs and I think he’s happy to leave that to Cameron,” said Peter Ricketts, who served as national security adviser and ambassador to Paris.
There are now, though, “genuine worries in No. 10 that Cameron is overshadowing him” said Cunliffe. “The ease with which Cameron has slipped back into the role of representing Britain on the world stage and the effortless authority he is able to convey highlights the weakness and chaos of the Sunak regime.”
While Team Sunak faces the challenge of what to do with three other former Tory PMs, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss, let “off the leash” said i news, the “arguably thornier dilemma” for the current incumbent of No. 10 is what to do with Lord Cameron.
“He [Cameron] is enjoying being back at the frontline of politics”, a Conservative insider told the news site. “There’s a risk he could steal the limelight from Sunak, but he did win an election for us”, and he could prove pivotal in swaying wavering Tory moderates in the so-called Blue Wall.