When Sunak became Prime Minister, it felt almost as if the public had had enough of charisma. They wanted a safe pair of hands to stabilise the economy after Liz Truss’s turbulent mini-budget, and the ongoing upheaval at the end of the Boris Johnson era. What he lacked in attention to detail, he made up for in charm, confidence and the ability to buoy his MPs in the face of (almost) any crisis.
So when his charisma stopped being enough to keep him in office, with a brief interlude punctuated by Liz Truss, it felt like the public was ready for a “safe pair of hands”.
But Sunak’s seeming inability to deliver on the five pledges he set out at the start of his premiership – with halving inflation being the only significant success he’s claimed so far – is beginning to serve as a reminder that competence in office requires more than just attention to detail.
And former PM David Cameron, newly propelled back into office, may well serve as a stark reminder of that.
Cameron was propelled back into office as Foreign Secretary last month
Within his first month in office, there was already talk of Sunak being overshadowed by his new Foreign Secretary.
Images released within days of his appointment, showing the former PM walking across Horse Guards Parade with Sunak and James Cleverly, prompted raised eyebrows after Cameron was pictured in the middle, with Sunak to one side. One Tory staffer remarked that the Prime Minister “looked like a teenager on work experience” next to Cleverly and Cameron.
Just last night, Cameron gave a glowing performance at a glitzy reception at Lancaster House. One Tory MP gushed to Politico the former PM was a “true pro”.
And his appearance at the European Scrutiny Committee this afternoon saw him complete verbal gymnastics to avoid adding fuel to the fire over his longstanding position as a Europhile.
He used neutral language to describe the UK’s relationship with the EU – dubbing it “functional” – and warned that failing to agree a support package with the bloc for Ukraine would be like “giving a Christmas present to Vladimir Putin”. A position which is easy to defend, Europhile or not.
Having been in office just over a month, the Foreign Secretary is yet to recieve many glowing reviews. But he is also yet to face any major heat either. The fact that he has managed to slip under the radar without enormous controversy – despite the many traps he had laid for himself – speaks volumes about his ability to manoevre politically.
In 2016, atfer he stepped down following the Brexit referendum, David Cameron was ranked second only to Margaret Thatcher as the most popular British leader of recent decades, a YouGov poll found. He was rated “good or great” by 32 per cent of respondents, beating Tony Blair on 20 per cent and John Major on 14 per cent.
But in his new role, the former Prime Minister has so far failed to win over Tory members. The latest Conservative Home Cabinet league table put him at -4.9 per cent, just four positions up from the bottom of the table.
If the ex-prime minister can win over Conservative members and MPs, his skillset might make him indispensable to Sunak.
As the PM scrambles to get MPs on side amid growing dissent, the question for him is why he appointed Cameron in the first place. Did he want someone strong for the foreign brief, and was out of options among sitting MPs? Or did he realise that Cameron’s skillset as a “people person”, might just make him a “true pro” in corraling MPs?
