British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is separating from Home Secretary Braverman and conjuring up former Prime Minister David Cameron as Foreign Secretary. In doing so, Sunak distances himself from the right wing of the party – and accepts political risks.
Hardliner Suella Braverman: Her time in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet is over.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reshuffled his government with a bang on Monday. It had become clear in recent days that he would fire his controversial and disloyal Interior Minister Suella Braverman. But no one expected that Sunak would bring former Prime Minister David Cameron back to the cabinet table as the new foreign secretary. In doing so, Sunak pulled off a surprise coup that diverted media interest from the rift with Braverman.
Surprise coup or act of desperation?
For a former prime minister to return to government in a deeper role is highly unusual in British history. Cameron described Sunak as a capable and strong prime minister whom he wanted to support with his experience. Since Cameron has no longer sat in the House of Commons since his resignation in 2016 and since only MPs can become ministers, King Charles III had to appoint him. at Sunak’s request, appointed Lord at short notice and appointed to the Upper House.
Cameron’s comeback also comes as a surprise because Sunak presented himself as a “candidate of change” at the Conservative party conference a few weeks ago with a view to the elections that will probably take place in autumn 2024, breaking with the government policy of the last 15 years. The fact that he is now bringing Cameron on board, of all people, whose reputation was damaged by the Brexit referendum in 2016, seems more like an act of desperation given the Tories’ poor poll numbers.
However, Cameron is not only seen as an experienced but also as a heavyweight representative of the classic liberal-conservative wing of the party. Against this background, his appointment is also a signal that Sunak wants to lead the party back more towards the political center with a view to the general elections, where British elections are usually won. Tory veteran Michael Heseltine, who served under Margaret Thatcher, declared the Tories’ “rightward slide” over.
Braverman as a political mortgage
The dismissals of Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey, a close confidante of Liz Truss, and especially of Interior Minister Suella Braverman, who is anchored in the right wing of the party, fit with this interpretation. The new Interior Minister will be the previous Foreign Minister James Cleverly, who is considered a safe bet and vowed to continue Braverman’s migration policy.
Sunak appointed Braverman as a minister immediately after becoming prime minister a year ago for power-political reasons. She helped him get elected within the party during the turbulence after Liz Truss’ resignation, but demanded influence at the cabinet table. For the pragmatist Sunak, the inclusion of the Indian-born hardliner was a means of keeping the party right in line.
On Monday, however, Sunak came to the realization that Braverman had become a political mortgage for him. The Interior Minister had offended the sense of decency of a growing number of conservative MPs with her increasingly aggressive rhetoric. When she spoke of an “invasion” of migrants, it raised eyebrows. Her statement that homeless people choose their “lifestyle” voluntarily recently met with strong criticism within the party.
Last week, she branded all pro-Palestinian demonstrations as “hate marches” and accused the police of generally acting less harshly against left-wing and migrant groups than against lockdown skeptics or right-wing nationalists. In doing so, she was accused of dividing society instead of uniting it. In addition, she undermined the already difficult work of the police instead of supporting the representatives of state power as Interior Minister.
Braverman didn’t just distract from government policy and steal the headlines from Sunak. She was also increasingly evidently preparing the political ground for Sunak to inherit as leader of the Conservative Party. When she criticized the police last week, she did so without first having Sunak authorize her op-ed in The Times.
David Cameron’s comeback
The fact that Sunak no longer stands idly by while his rival saws away at his chair from the cabinet table ostensibly strengthens his authority. But it also carries the risk that Braverman and the right wing of the party will sabotage him from the backbenches of the House of Commons or even openly rebel against him. On Monday, the first critics called for an internal party vote of no confidence against Sunak.
David Cameron returns to politics as foreign secretary seven years after stepping down as prime minister.
Despite these risks, Sunak has come to the conclusion that he prefers to govern with a team in which everyone pulls together. He is also probably speculating that the rebellion of the party right will remain a storm in a teacup. When he settled the long-standing dispute with Brussels over the Northern Ireland Protocol at the beginning of the year and stood up to the Brexit hardliners, the threatened resistance collapsed surprisingly quickly.