Inside David Cameron’s return: he’ll be on hand for ‘big decisions’ after secret deal by William Hague
Jane Merrick Arj Singh
Even the Foreign Office was taken by surprise when David Cameron turned up to Downing Street
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inews.co.uk
David Cameron’s astonishing return to the political front line was such a closely guarded secret, only a handful of people inside Downing Street – and in Buckingham Palace, where the King had to rubber-stamp the appointment – knew about it in advance.

It was only when the former prime minister stepped out of his car beyond the Downing Street gates, just before 9am on Monday, that civil servants at the Foreign Office had an inkling they might be getting a new boss.

Given the appointment was such a political bombshell, it was essential that the approach to, and negotiations with, the one-time Tory leader had to be shrouded in mystery. The idea to bring him back was the Prime Minister’s himself, it is understood.

It is believed that the new Lord Cameron, whom friends say had let it be known for a long time that he wanted another role in public life, had been approached by Rishi Sunak via William Hague, who served as foreign secretary in the Cameron-led coalition and is a political mentor of the current Prime Minister, about the possibility of returning to government.

The prospect of Lord Hague as deal-broker is intriguing, because Lord Cameron’s role inside Downing Street is likely to be similar to the one the former foreign secretary held in the coalition – not only as a senior Cabinet minister but as a more experienced wise counsel on hand to advise the younger prime minister.

Giles Kenningham, a former adviser to Lord Cameron, said: “I think he will perform a similar role that Hague did for him when he was PM, offering the counsel having been there and done that.

“I suspect he will be in the room for the big decisions. He also believes in public service and wanted a role in public life, so from that perspective it is unsurprising.”

Having been made aware for some time of his interest in a return, the formal approach to the former prime minister came as recently as last Thursday, according to one Tory insider.

No 10 only began thinking about hiring Lord Cameron on that day – in the wake of Suella Braverman’s incendiary Times article about pro-Palestinian protests – as part of a bid to “change the narrative”, according to the insider.

Downing Street sources refused to comment on this account.

The move is also evidence of competing factions in Downing Street, crediting Adam Atashzai – Lord Cameron’s former deputy political director, who re-entered No 10 as a special adviser in September – and James Forsyth, Mr Sunak’s political secretary, as being driving forces behind the move.

The insider said some of Mr Sunak’s longest serving aides, led by chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith, had devised the strategy of painting the Prime Minister as the “change” candidate with moves such as scrapping HS2 to Manchester.

Meanwhile, Mr Atashzai, Mr Forsyth and others want to recreate the 2015 election victory with the Tories’ “best hope being a slim majority” and “who better to do that” than Mr Cameron himself.

But a third faction, led by election supremo Isaac Levido, was behind the simplified “five pledges” plan to deliver on what voters are most concerned about, with next year viewed as the point when Mr Sunak would be able to turn polls around.

“There is definitely a divergence of views on strategy,” the insider said. “Conservative MPs in any seat will be worried… changing your message is disastrous.

“It’s a bit like a trolley, it looks like panic because the polls aren’t changing.”

In his new role, Lord Cameron will lead British efforts to pursue a two-state solution for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories as his top priority, insiders say.

Significantly, Mr Sunak’s major foreign policy speech on Monday evening was expected to stress the importance of restoring the Middle East peace process, and Lord Cameron will drive this forward.

His predecessor, James Cleverly, had done an “excellent” job, senior Government sources said, but Lord Cameron was brought back to lead on the peace process given his experience in the region and as a former world leader.

George Osborne has said that part of Lord Cameron “died inside” when he stepped back from frontline politics in 2016.

Speaking to Ed Balls on their podcast Political Currency, Mr Osborne, a long-term political friend and ally of the new Foreign Secretary, said Lord Cameron would be doing “everything he can” to win the Conservatives a fifth term.

Mr Osborne said: “There is a kind of strong element of public service in David. That has always been part of his DNA.

“And I always thought when he left the House of Commons, which was not his original plan, he wanted to stay as an MP, I think he wanted to sort of serve out his time on this planet as the MP for Witney.

“And then he decided he shouldn’t do that, and he couldn’t do that. But there was a bit of him as a result that died inside which was the public service element, which he tried to fill with other things like his very important work for Alzheimer’s, but it wasn’t the same.

“And now I think, when I was speaking to him about it, it’s like the sound of the trumpet, back on the playing field, the political playing fields, and serving your country.

“And I know people listening to this will be very cynical and say ‘yeah yeah whatever’. But David really did not need to do this. So you know, he’s doing it because above all, he thinks he can make a difference to Britain’s foreign policy.”

Mr Osborne said Lord Cameron was a “changed individual” since leaving office, adding: “I don’t think he’s expecting to just sort of drift around above everything as the elder statesman. He knows he’s rolling up his sleeves to get back involved, though in the foreign policy brief where I think you can be more cross party.”

Unlike his ally, Mr Osborne said he had not been called up by Mr Sunak to return to government, however.