David Cameron

The Right Honourable The Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton PC
Official portrait, 2023
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 November 2023
Prime Minister	Rishi Sunak
Deputy	Andrew Mitchell (since 2024)
Preceded by	James Cleverly
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 11 May 2010 – 13 July 2016
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Nick Clegg (2010–2015)
First Secretary	William Hague George Osborne
Preceded by	Gordon Brown
Succeeded by	Theresa May
Leader of the Opposition
In office 6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Deputy	William Hague
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Succeeded by	Harriet Harman
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office 6 December 2005 – 11 July 2016
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Succeeded by	Theresa May
Shadow portfolios 2003‍–‍2005 Shadow Secretary of State 2005 Education and Skills Shadow Minister 2003 Privy Council Office 2004 Communities and Local Government 2004–2005 Conservative Policy Review Coordinator
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Life peerage 17 November 2023 – present Member of Parliament for Witney In office 7 June 2001 – 12 September 2016 Preceded by Shaun Woodward Succeeded by Robert Courts
Personal details
Born	David William Donald Cameron (1966-10-09) 9 October 1966 (age 57) Marylebone, London, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Samantha Sheffield ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	4
Relatives	Cameron family
Education	Eton College Brasenose College, Oxford (MA)
Signature
Website	Official website
David Cameron's voice Cameron's first speech as prime minister Recorded 11 May 2010

This article is part of a series about David Cameron
Political positions Electoral history The A-List Cameron Cutie MP for Witney Foreign Secretary Shadow Cabinet One-nation conservatism Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Premiership International trips First ministry and term Cameron–Clegg coalition and agreement Bloody Sunday apology Spending, Strategic Defence, Balance of Competences reviews Military intervention in Libya (Operation Ellamy) Big Society Big Society Award National Citizen Service Alternative Vote referendum Phone hacking scandal 2011 riots Welfare Reform Act Health and Social Care Act London 2012 Summer Olympics Belfast City Hall flag protests Bloomberg speech Death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 Woolwich attack Scottish independence referendum Royal Mail privatisation Post Office scandal Second ministry and term Second Cameron ministry Operation Shader Military intervention against ISIL in Iraq 2015–16 floods 2016 budget EU referendum Brexit Panama Papers 2016 Conservative Party leadership election Resignation Honours Post-premiership Greensill scandal Greased piglet For the Record Tenure as Foreign Secretary November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle
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David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton, PC (born 9 October 1966), is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since 2023. He previously served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016, as Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016, and as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010, while serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. He identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies.

Born in London to an upper-middle-class family, Cameron was educated at Eton College, before going up to Brasenose College, Oxford. Becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the opposition Shadow Cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard, and succeeded Howard in 2005. Following the 2010 general election, negotiations led to Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. His premiership was marked by the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis, which his government sought to address through austerity measures. His administration passed the Health and Social Care Act and the Welfare Reform Act, which introduced large-scale changes to healthcare and welfare. It also enforced stricter immigration policies, introduced reforms to education and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. Cameron's administration also privatised Royal Mail and some other state assets, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Internationally, Cameron's government intervened militarily in the First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State. Domestically, his government oversaw the referendum on voting reform and Scottish independence referendum, both of which confirmed Cameron's favoured outcome.

When the Conservatives secured an unexpected majority in the 2015 general election, he remained as prime minister, this time leading a Conservative-only government. To fulfil a manifesto pledge, Cameron introduced a referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union in 2016. He supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. Following the success of the Leave vote, Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election by Theresa May. Post his premiership, Cameron gave up his seat and served as the president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023. During the November 2023 cabinet reshuffle, Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak appointed Cameron foreign secretary and recommended him for a life peerage. Cameron is the first former prime minister to be appointed to a ministerial post since Alec Douglas-Home in 1970. Cameron has been credited for helping to modernise the Conservative Party and for reducing the United Kingdom's inherited national deficit as prime minister. However, he was subject to a level of criticism for the 2015 manifesto commitment to implement the referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU and his vocal support for remain, which ultimately led to his resignation as prime minister. This led to a sustained period of political instability. After leaving office, he was implicated in the Greensill scandal. In historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, academics and journalists have ranked Cameron in the fourth and third quintiles, respectively.