David Cameron returns to the Cabinet table after seven years

David Cameron will return to the cabinet table for the first time in more than seven years on Tuesday after being recalled to government.

Rishi Sunak will meet his new cabinet after a dramatic reshuffle on Monday that saw the former prime minister return to frontline politics.

He replaced James Cleverley as Home Secretary to take over from Suella Braverman.

Ms Braverman was fired after criticizing the Metropolitan Police.

Lord Cameron – as he will now be known following his appointment to the House of Lords – is not the only familiar face returning to government.

Former business secretary Andrea Leetsham took on junior responsibility for the Department of Health and Social Care, while Damian Hinds became minister for education, which she ran.

Lord Cameron has been out of Parliament since stepping down as Prime Minister in 2016 and was given a seat in the House of Lords to take up his new role.

The former prime minister spoke to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Monday evening.

The pair “reaffirmed the strength and depth of the relationship between the UK and the US”, the Foreign Office said.

“They discussed conflicts in the Middle East, Israel’s right to self-defense and the need for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to be safely flown into Gaza,” the Foreign Office posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“They continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s illegal war of aggression,” it said.

Speaking at the Lord Mayor’s dinner in London on Monday night, Mr Sunak said he was “delighted to have appointed a new foreign secretary”.

The prime minister urged Israel to protect civilians in Gaza, where more than 11,000 people have been killed since Israel began its bombing campaign last month.

An airstrike on Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 200 others.

Mr Sunak said the new cabinet was “a united team”.

But not everyone in the Conservative Party is happy about the return of Lord Cameron and his new-look cabinet.

A backbencher, Dame Andrea Jenkins, has already submitted a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister. There must be 53 before his leadership is threatened.

And former Conservative cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said the Tories were “at risk of losing votes to the Reform Party”.

Reform leader Richard Dice was “as happy as can be” when he saw him earlier, telling BBC Newsnight: “The champagne will be flowing at Reform HQ tonight after what’s been done today.”

Opposition parties were quick to question whether bringing back a prime minister who stepped down seven years ago was the fresh start Mr Sunak was claiming.

Senior Labor MP Pat McFadden said Lord Cameron’s appointment “puts to rest the prime minister’s ludicrous claim to deliver change from 13 years of Tory defeat”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it “looks like desperation”.

The Lib Dems are calling for Lord Cameron’s bid to be blocked, referring to his lobbying for collapsed financial firm Greensil Capital.

Lord Cameron said he had stepped down from various business and charity roles – including as chairman of the Alzheimer’s Society – since resigning as prime minister.

“I have one job – to be foreign secretary and to work with the prime minister to make Britain as safe and prosperous as possible in a difficult and dangerous world,” he said.

Foreign Secretary Greensil insisted the issue was “in the past” and had been “dealt with”.

Ms Braverman’s sacking kicks off a major Cabinet reshuffle by Rishi Sunak as he reshuffles his top team ahead of next week’s Autumn Statement.

Steve Barclay has replaced Therese Coffey as Environment Secretary, and Treasury Minister Victoria Atkins has been promoted to Health Secretary.

Meanwhile, former transport minister Richard Holden has been appointed leader of the Tory party, and John Glenn is replaced by Laura Trott as chief secretary to the Treasury.