Sunak appoints ex-PM David Cameron foreign secretary in UK cabinet reshuffle

Issued on: 13/11/2023 – 11:24Modified: 13/11/2023 – 11:27

2 min

Britain’s former premier David Cameron was named the country’s new foreign secretary on Monday in a surprise appointment by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as he reshuffled his top team.

Cameron was Britain’s leader from 2010 to 2016 before quitting after the Brexit referendum. His unexpected return to the front line of British politics comes after he spent the last seven years writing his memoirs and pursuing business interests, including in Greensill Capital, a finance firm that later collapsed.

Sunak also sacked controversial interior minister Suella Braverman as he reshuffles his top team ahead of a general election expected next year, replacing her with erstwhile foreign minister James Cleverly.

Sunak had come under growing pressure to axe Braverman, an outspoken right-winger, after critics accused her of heightening tensions during weeks of contentious pro-Palestinian demonstrations and counter-protests in Britain.

Following her dismissal, Braverman said “it has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary”.

“I will have more to say in due course,” she added.

The firing comes as the ruling Conservatives confirmed a major reshuffle of Sunak’s top ministers was underway — his first since becoming the country’s leader on October 25, 2022.

“Here we go,” the party said on X, formerly Twitter.

“Today @RishiSunak strengthens his team in government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future. Stay tuned for the latest.”

The changes, set to be announced through the morning, were expected to reward loyalists and younger emerging MPs, after nearly 14 years in power takes its toll on the Tories’ popularity.

The party has trailed the main Labour opposition by double-digit margins throughout Sunak’s time in power, and is widely tipped to lose the next election due next year.

Braverman had stoked controversy throughout her tenure, taking a hardline stance on immigration in particular and regularly wading into so-called culture wars issues which are seen as dividing the electorate.

The right-winger attacked her critics as liberal “tofu-eating wokerati” while saying shortly after she was appointed that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was her “dream” and “obsession”.

But her position became increasingly untenable after she last week wrote an explosive newspaper article, apparently without Sunak’s approval, accusing police of bias towards left-wing causes. It was blamed for stoking tensions ahead of a weekend of protests over Israel’s war in Gaza, which coincided with Armistice Day events, and prompted calls for her to be sacked.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)