David Cameron’s return to British Politics in November 2023 as The Right Honourable Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton signified the Conservative Party’s efforts to return to a pre-Brexit, “One Nation” centre ground. The move from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sought to stem the tide of more right wing manoeuvring within the Tory party that had edged to a shaky climax with the election of Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British History. 

Most interesting at the time of Cameron’s return in November was the media’s tacit acceptance of the emeritus statesman’s surprise, unelected political comeback. Even the left-leaning liberal media struggle to lambaste him, the One Nation Tory whose politics appears sound compared to the unprincipled descent into political implosion and public distrust caused by the Johnson government, the more radical influences that mistakenly spurred the “Kamikwazi budget”, and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s threats to the operational independence of the Metropolitan Police.

For all of Cameron’s alleged foreign policy foibles as Prime Minister (2010-2016), such as fostering ostensibly too-close relations with China, intervening to no avail in Libya, and encouraging deals with Saudi Arabia despite their dubious human rights record, one could argue he’s been making progress as Foreign Secretary.

His reputation may be irredeemably tarnished by his and George Osborne’s austerity programme, the multifarious cuts to public services, and the complacency showed by his Remain team during the lost Brexit referendum.  But, since his return to a full in-tray at the FCO nearly three months ago, he has brought a level of knowledge and experience of statecraft that has steadied the ship of the Conservatives: 

Cameron has made it clear that he backs a “sustainable ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war, calling for more aid to reach Gaza, and for the Israeli government and defence forces to “do more to discriminate sufficiently between terrorists and civilians”. Later however, he said he did not agree with an “immediate ceasefire”, arguing that Israel has the right to defend itself. Controversially, he dismissed South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel as “nonsense”. He continues to call for a two-state solution.

Now, with Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” wreaking havoc in the Middle East in attempt to undermine the West’s support for Israel, he has sent a clear message to Tehran: “You are accountable for terror”. With up to 30 known ships targeted by Houthi ballistic missiles and Kamikaze drones in the Red Sea, and 3 US soldiers and about 40 others injured in a drone attack by the Iran-linked Islamic Resistance of Iraq on a US military base near the Jordan-Syria border, the Foreign Secretary is at least sending a strong message of UK defiance against further attacks, which persists with air strikes against Houthi weapons compounds in Yemen.

The UK may not be equipped for a global war, with naval vessels being mothballed, the flagship QEII unable to participate in NATO’s largest training exercise since the Cold War due to mechanical difficulties, and tanking recruitment levels across the Armed Forces, but the Foreign Secretary is calling for continued robust support in the form of supplies and armaments for Ukraine. General Sir Patrick Sanders’ calls for a “citizen army” in the UK have reawakened the country and its media to the paramount importance of filling recruitment gaps in the Armed Forces.