David Cameron

The Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton
Official portrait of Cameron as Foreign Secretary
Official portrait, 2023
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Assumed office
13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJames Cleverly
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
11 May 2010 – 13 July 2016
MonarchElizabeth II
DeputyNick Clegg (2010–2015)
First Secretary
Preceded byGordon Brown
Succeeded byTheresa May
Leader of the Opposition
In office
6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime Minister
DeputyWilliam Hague
Preceded byMichael Howard
Succeeded byHarriet Harman
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
6 December 2005 – 11 July 2016
Preceded byMichael Howard
Succeeded byTheresa May
Shadow portfolios 2003‍–‍2005
Shadow Secretary of State
2005Education and Skills
Shadow Minister
2003Privy Council Office
2004
2004–2005
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
17 November 2023 – present
Member of Parliament
for Witney
In office
7 June 2001 – 12 September 2016
Preceded byShaun Woodward
Succeeded byRobert Courts
Personal details
Born
David William Donald Cameron

(1966-10-09) 9 October 1966 (age 57)
Marylebone, London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
(m. 1996)
Children4
RelativesCameron family
Education
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

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 Heatherdown School, then Eton College, before going up to Brasenose College, Oxford. From 1988 to 1993 he worked at the Conservative Research Department, latterly assisting the Conservative prime minister John Major, before leaving politics to work for Carlton Communications in 1994. Becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the opposition Shadow Cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard, and succeeded Howard in 2005. Cameron sought to rebrand the Conservatives, embracing an increasingly socially liberal position and introducing the "A-List" to increase the number of female and minority ethnic Conservative MPs.

Following the 2010 general election, negotiations led to Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.[1][2] His premiership was marked by the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis; these involved a large deficit in government finances that his government sought to reduce 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,[3] 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 for the UK to remain in the EU. Following the success of the Leave vote,[4] Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election by Theresa May, his home secretary.[4][5]

Post his premiership, Cameron gave up his seat and served as the president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023.[6] 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.[7]

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 2016 manifesto commitment[8] 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 for the rest of the decade.[9][10][11] After leaving office, he was implicated in the Greensill scandal after lobbying government ministers and civil servants on behalf of Greensill Capital. In historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, academics and journalists have ranked Cameron in the fourth and third quintiles, respectively.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Telegraph11May2009YoungestPM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Rishi Sunak: The wealthy millennial who rocketed to power". BBC News. 25 October 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  3. ^ Morris, Nigel (22 May 2014). "David Cameron sticks to his guns on immigration reduction pledge even while numbers rise". The Independent. London: Independent Print Ltd. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b "EU referendum: UK votes to leave in historic referendum". BBC News. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  5. ^ Stewart, Heather; Mason, Rowena; Syal, Rajeev (24 June 2016). "David Cameron resigns after UK votes to leave European Union". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016. PM announces resignation following victory for leave supporters after divisive referendum campaign
  6. ^ "David Cameron: I saw a world of darkness getting bigger and bigger". Financial Times. December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. ^ Gibbons, Amy (13 November 2023). "Cabinet reshuffle live: David Cameron named Foreign Secretary in sensational political return". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  8. ^ "2016 UK EU membership referendum". Policy Navigator. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  9. ^ Skidelsky, Robert (12 September 2019). "Cameron's great fault was mental idleness and today's crisis is a direct consequence of his carelessness". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  10. ^ Kershaw, Ian; Seldon, Anthony; Todd, Selina; Adi, Hakim; Gardiner, Juliet; Bogdanor, Vernon (15 July 2016). "David Cameron's legacy: the historians' verdict". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  11. ^ Norman, Matthew (13 September 2016). "What made Cameron the worst Prime Minister in living history". The Independent. London: Independent Print Ltd. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2019.

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