Sunak is taking a big gamble by appointing former Prime Minister David Cameron

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle has been in the air for a few weeks. But the fact that Sunak would appoint his predecessor David Cameron as foreign secretary was something no one outside Sunak’s inner circle could have predicted. Until Cameron suddenly got out of his car in Downing Street on Monday morning and headed to his former official residence. His return to politics is a big surprise.

It is indeed exceptional for a former British Prime Minister to return to a “lower” position in the Cabinet – the last time that was in 1970. Hence Cameron is not a member of the House of Commons either; He resigned in September 2016. Sunak made special arrangements for Cameron to become a member of the House of Lords. And now it is lord David Cameron. In the United Kingdom, ministerial rules only allow members of Parliament to participate in government. Cameron will therefore not answer to the House of Commons, but must do so to his fellow Lords.

With this reshuffle – in which a whole host of ministers were sacked or appointed on Monday – Prime Minister Sunak is trying to strengthen his government and his position as leader of the Conservative Party. Political experts had expected that the Minister of the Interior and Yemen, Suella Braverman, would be forced to leave. Her position became unacceptable after an opinion article in timesThe police were accused of sympathizing with “pro-Palestinian gangs.”

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But Cameron, that’s a different story. His appointment conflicts with Sunak’s recent attempts to portray himself as someone who wants to bring change to the country. It is indeed a difficult message as the leader of a party that has been in power for thirteen years. At the party conference last month, Sunak said he wanted to get rid of “30 years of vested interests that have stood in the way of change”. Bringing in one of your most prominent predecessors – Cameron, who was party leader for eleven years and prime minister for six – is not an obvious move.

This appointment is a big gamble on Sunak’s part and aims to win back rational conservative-liberal voters in southern England, as British media interpreted on Monday. The Liberal Democrats now win the largest number of by-elections for vacant House of Commons seats in that corner of the country. Voters there see Cameron as the last sane prime minister offered by the Conservatives.

As Foreign Minister, his experience and international standing could also be useful in an unstable world with major conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. It is problematic, for example, that the British position in dealing with China under Cameron was much friendlier than it is now. Sunak previously described it as “naive” that Cameron drank beer in the pub with President Xi Jinping during his time in office. Last fall, Cameron lobbied for a project in Sri Lanka that falls within the new Silk Road launched by the Chinese government.

Brexit referendum

Cameron also brings up memories of the split. Few politicians have their names more associated with the Brexit referendum than his own. It was Cameron who promised British voters to hold a referendum on European Union membership. But it lost in 2016 under his leadership Remains-camp. the They left narrowly won: the UK will leave the EU. From the beginning, Sunak was against Cameron and in favor of leaving the European Union. But this will not be a reconciliation between the two camps within the party, because Sunak is less right-wing than the more fanatical. Supporters of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

For Sunak, it was the first reaction to him Ministerial reshuffle Not very encouraging. Opinion polls conducted by YouGov Research on Monday showed that 38 percent believe Cameron’s appointment was a bad decision, 24 percent believe it is a good idea, and 38 percent do not know. A larger percentage of voters also thought that Cameron’s performance would be bad compared to their expectations for good results. Most Britons no longer view the ruling party very favorably.