According to a Government blog from November 2012, 14 ex-premiers have previously come back in a different government role since the 18th century.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who served for just under a year as prime minister after taking office in October 1963, was later appointed foreign secretary by Edward Heath.
He held the role from 1970 until 1974 and is the last former PM to return to government under a different leader.
I guess it’s not that uncommon. I don’t know if we’ve ever had an ex-President do it over here in the US.
Oh for sure, it’s more about who it is than the fact it’s happened at all. Cameron quietly slipped away after the Brexit vote and used his position to lobby for a number of his business interests, like Illumina. However, a I know a number of Tory voters who still love him and have him up there as the best the party has had in a long time.
It kind of feels like the Tories are scrambling to find a face who a lot of their disenfranchised base don’t immediately hate, especially after Patel and Braverman have been so reviled. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out before the election - wonder if Cameron has any intentions of running for leadership again.
wonder if Cameron has any intentions of running for leadership again.
I would not be surprised if that turns out to be the plan.
There’s no-one else in their party who’s vaguely fit for the job, even based solely on the last few examples they’ve produced. A cannier eye, even a Tory one, would likely see that their other potential candidates are just as bad.
John Quincy Adams went back into Congress after being President but unless I’m missing someone I don’t believe any US President has ever become a minister after serving.
If one includes other branches of government, looks like Taft became a Supreme Court justice. Not common to even do that, though.
thinks
Cameron left office because the British public voted Leave after he’d urged them to vote Remain. I wonder if his return has any relevance to Brexit and shifting public opinion on the matter?
It was the role he wanted from a very young age, to the point where he had to be persuaded to become Vice President under Roosevelt because he thought it’d all but end his ambitions to become a Supreme Court Justice.
(Sorry, I’m into US Presidents and I have very few options to talk about them).
I really doubt it. Brexit is still too toxic right now for any reversal and everyone wants to just move on. The Tories doing it would be completely suicidal.
I think its Sunak and the party leadership completely out of ideas and any remotely competent people willing to work with them. He had decent public support before, especially with big business which labour have completely brought to their side so this is probably to try to woo them back. I’m not sure it’ll work. Business right now just want stability and know the Tories cannot give that until they decide who will lead once they lose the general election and how far right they will end up (I.e. if its too much, I think big businesses will struggle to support them because of their HO staff and need for cheap immigrant labour to do the actual work)
About near fell off my chair in shock at this one - seems like even the news outlets are a wee bit surprised too
Yeah. I wonder how many PMs have been called back to serve in other minesterial positions after their term as PM is done?
googles
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/news/national/david-cameron-becomes-15th-ex-pm-to-serve-in-later-government-led-by-another-103370/
I guess it’s not that uncommon. I don’t know if we’ve ever had an ex-President do it over here in the US.
Oh for sure, it’s more about who it is than the fact it’s happened at all. Cameron quietly slipped away after the Brexit vote and used his position to lobby for a number of his business interests, like Illumina. However, a I know a number of Tory voters who still love him and have him up there as the best the party has had in a long time.
It kind of feels like the Tories are scrambling to find a face who a lot of their disenfranchised base don’t immediately hate, especially after Patel and Braverman have been so reviled. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out before the election - wonder if Cameron has any intentions of running for leadership again.
I would not be surprised if that turns out to be the plan.
There’s no-one else in their party who’s vaguely fit for the job, even based solely on the last few examples they’ve produced. A cannier eye, even a Tory one, would likely see that their other potential candidates are just as bad.
John Quincy Adams went back into Congress after being President but unless I’m missing someone I don’t believe any US President has ever become a minister after serving.
If one includes other branches of government, looks like Taft became a Supreme Court justice. Not common to even do that, though.
thinks
Cameron left office because the British public voted Leave after he’d urged them to vote Remain. I wonder if his return has any relevance to Brexit and shifting public opinion on the matter?
Chief Justice iirc.
It was the role he wanted from a very young age, to the point where he had to be persuaded to become Vice President under Roosevelt because he thought it’d all but end his ambitions to become a Supreme Court Justice.
(Sorry, I’m into US Presidents and I have very few options to talk about them).
I really doubt it. Brexit is still too toxic right now for any reversal and everyone wants to just move on. The Tories doing it would be completely suicidal.
I think its Sunak and the party leadership completely out of ideas and any remotely competent people willing to work with them. He had decent public support before, especially with big business which labour have completely brought to their side so this is probably to try to woo them back. I’m not sure it’ll work. Business right now just want stability and know the Tories cannot give that until they decide who will lead once they lose the general election and how far right they will end up (I.e. if its too much, I think big businesses will struggle to support them because of their HO staff and need for cheap immigrant labour to do the actual work)