David Cameron

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton
Official portrait of Cameron as Foreign Secretary
Official portrait, 2023
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Assumed office
13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJames Cleverly
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
11 May 2010 – 13 July 2016
MonarchElizabeth II
DeputyNick Clegg (2010–2015)
First Secretary
Preceded byGordon Brown
Succeeded byTheresa May
Leader of the Opposition
In office
6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime Minister
DeputyWilliam Hague
Preceded byMichael Howard
Succeeded byHarriet Harman
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
6 December 2005 – 11 July 2016
Preceded byMichael Howard
Succeeded byTheresa May
Shadow portfolios 2003‍–‍2005
Shadow Secretary of State
2005Education and Skills
Shadow Minister
2003Privy Council Office
2004
2004–2005
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
17 November 2023 – present
Member of Parliament
for Witney
In office
7 June 2001 – 12 September 2016
Preceded byShaun Woodward
Succeeded byRobert Courts
Personal details
Born
David William Donald Cameron

(1966-10-09) 9 October 1966 (age 57)
Marylebone, London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
(m. 1996)
Children4
RelativesCameron family
Education
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton, PC (born 9 October 1966), is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since 2023. He previously served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016, as Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016, and as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010, while serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. He identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies.

Born in London to an upper-middle-class family, Cameron was educated at Heatherdown School, then Eton College, before going up to Brasenose College, Oxford. From 1988 to 1993 he worked at the Conservative Research Department, latterly assisting the Conservative prime minister John Major, before leaving politics to work for Carlton Communications in 1994. Becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the opposition Shadow Cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard, and succeeded Howard in 2005. Cameron sought to rebrand the Conservatives, embracing an increasingly socially liberal position and introducing the "A-List" to increase the number of female and minority ethnic Conservative MPs.

Following the 2010 general election, negotiations led to Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.[1][2] His premiership was marked by the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis; these involved a large deficit in government finances that his government sought to reduce through austerity measures. His administration passed the Health and Social Care Act and the Welfare Reform Act, which introduced large-scale changes to healthcare and welfare. It also enforced stricter immigration policies,[3] introduced reforms to education and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. Cameron's administration also privatised Royal Mail and some other state assets, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales.

Internationally, Cameron's government intervened militarily in the First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State. Domestically, his government oversaw the referendum on voting reform and Scottish independence referendum, both of which confirmed Cameron's favoured outcome. When the Conservatives secured an unexpected majority in the 2015 general election, he remained as prime minister, this time leading a Conservative-only government. To fulfil a manifesto pledge, Cameron introduced a referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union in 2016. He supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign for the UK to remain in the EU. Following the success of the Leave vote,[4] Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election by Theresa May, his home secretary.[4][5]

After his premiership, Cameron gave up his seat and served as the president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023.[6] During the November 2023 cabinet reshuffle, Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak appointed Cameron foreign secretary and recommended him for a life peerage. Cameron is the first former prime minister to be appointed to a ministerial post since Alec Douglas-Home in 1970.[7]

Cameron has been credited for helping to modernise the Conservative Party and for reducing the United Kingdom's inherited national deficit as prime minister. However, he was subject to a level of criticism for the 2016 manifesto commitment[8] to implement the referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU and his vocal support for remain, which ultimately led to his resignation as prime minister. This led to a sustained period of political instability for the rest of the decade.[9][10][11] After leaving office, he was implicated in the Greensill scandal after lobbying government ministers and civil servants on behalf of Greensill Capital. In historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, academics and journalists have ranked Cameron in the fourth and third quintiles, respectively.

Early life and career

Early family life

David William Donald Cameron was born on 9 October 1966 in Marylebone, London,[12] and raised at Peasemore in Berkshire.[13] He has two sisters and an elder brother, Alexander Cameron KC (1963–2023), a barrister, who died of cancer.[14][15] He is the younger son of Ian Donald Cameron (1932–2010) a stockbroker, and his wife Mary Fleur, a retired Justice of the Peace and a daughter of Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet.[16] Cameron is a descendant of King William IV through one of the King's illegitimate children.[10][12]

Cameron's father, Ian, was born at Blairmore House near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and died near Toulon, France, on 8 September 2010;[17] Blairmore was built by Cameron's great-great-grandfather, Alexander Geddes,[18][19] who had made a fortune in the grain trade in Chicago, Illinois, before returning to Scotland in the 1880s.[20] Blairmore was sold soon after Ian's birth.[19]

Cameron has said: "On my mother's side of the family, her mother was a Llewellyn, so Welsh. I'm a real mixture of Scottish, Welsh and English."[21] He has also referenced the German Jewish ancestry of one of his great-grandfathers, Arthur Levita, a descendant of the Yiddish author Elia Levita.[22][23]

Education

Cameron was educated at two private schools. From the age of seven, he was taught at Heatherdown School in Winkfield, Berkshire. The school counts Prince Andrew and Prince Edward among its old boys. Owing to good grades, he entered its top academic class almost two years early.[24] At the age of 13, he went on to Eton College in Berkshire, following his father and elder brother.[25] His early interest was in art. Six weeks before taking his O-Levels, he was caught smoking cannabis.[26] He admitted the offence and had not been involved in selling drugs, so he was not expelled; instead he was fined, prevented from leaving the school grounds and given a "Georgic" (a punishment that involved copying 500 lines of Latin text).[27]

Cameron passed twelve O-Levels and then three A-levels: History of art; History, in which he was taught by Michael Kidson; and Economics with Politics. He obtained three 'A' grades and a '1' grade in the Scholarship Level exam in Economics and Politics.[28] The following autumn, he passed the entrance exam for the University of Oxford, and was offered an exhibition at Brasenose College.[29]

Brasenose College, Oxford

After leaving Eton in 1984,[30] Cameron started a nine-month gap year. For three months, he worked as a researcher for his godfather Tim Rathbone, then Conservative MP for Lewes, during which time he attended debates in the House of Commons.[31] Through his father, he was then employed for a further three months in Hong Kong by Jardine Matheson as a 'ship jumper', an administrative post.[32]

Returning from Hong Kong, Cameron visited the then-Soviet Union, where he was approached by two Russian men speaking fluent English. He was later told by one of his professors that it was "definitely an attempt" by the KGB to recruit him.[33]

In October 1985, Cameron began his Bachelor of Arts course in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Brasenose College, Oxford.[34] His tutor, Vernon Bogdanor, has described him as "one of the ablest" students he has taught,[35] with "moderate and sensible Conservative" political views.[14]

Guy Spier, who shared tutorials with him, remembers him as an outstanding student: "We were doing our best to grasp basic economic concepts. David—there was nobody else who came even close. He would be integrating them with the way the British political system is put together. He could have lectured me on it, and I would have sat there and taken notes."[36] When commenting in 2006 on his former pupil's ideas about a "Bill of Rights" to replace the Human Rights Act, however, Bogdanor, himself a Liberal Democrat, said: "I think he is very confused. I've read his speech and it's filled with contradictions. There are one or two good things in it but one glimpses them, as it were, through a mist of misunderstanding".[37]

While at Oxford, Cameron was a member of the Bullingdon Club, an exclusive all male student dining society with a reputation for an outlandish drinking culture associated with boisterous behaviour and damaging property.[38] In his 2019 memoir, Cameron wrote about being a member of the Bullingdon and its impact on his political career, saying: "When I look now at the much-reproduced photograph taken of our group of appallingly over-self-confident 'sons of privilege', I cringe. If I had known at the time the grief I would get for that picture, of course I would never have joined. But life isn't like that..." and: "These were also the years after the ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited when quite a few of us were carried away by the fantasy of an Evelyn Waugh-like Oxford existence."[39] Cameron's period in the Bullingdon Club was examined in a 2009 Channel 4 docu-drama, When Boris Met Dave, the title referring to Boris Johnson, another high-profile Conservative party figure, the then-mayor of London, who had been a member at the same time, and who would go on to be prime minister himself.

Cameron graduated in 1988 with a first-class honours BA degree (later promoted to an MA by seniority).[40]

Early political career

Conservative Research Department

After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department between September 1988 and 1993. His first brief was Trade and Industry, Energy and Privatisation; he befriended fellow young colleagues, including Edward Llewellyn, Ed Vaizey and Rachel Whetstone. They and others formed a group they called the "Smith Square set", which was dubbed the "Brat Pack" by the press, though it is better known as the "Notting Hill set", a name given to it pejoratively by Derek Conway.[41] In 1991, Cameron was seconded to Downing Street to work on briefing John Major for the then twice-weekly sessions of Prime Minister's Questions. One newspaper gave Cameron the credit for "sharper ... Despatch box performances" by Major,[42] which included highlighting for Major "a dreadful piece of doublespeak" by Tony Blair (then the Labour Employment spokesman) over the effect of a national minimum wage.[43] He became head of the political section of the Conservative Research Department, and in August 1991 was tipped to follow Judith Chaplin as political secretary to the prime minister.[44]

However, Cameron lost to Jonathan Hill, who was appointed in March 1992. Instead, Cameron was given the responsibility for briefing Major for his press conferences during the 1992 general election.[45] During the campaign, Cameron was one of the young "brat pack" of party strategists who worked between 12 and 20 hours a day, sleeping in the house of Alan Duncan in Gayfere Street, Westminster, which had been Major's campaign headquarters during his bid for the Conservative leadership.[46] Cameron headed the economic section; it was while working on this campaign that Cameron first worked closely with and befriended Steve Hilton, who was later to become Director of Strategy during his party leadership.[47] The strain of getting up at 04:45 every day was reported to have led Cameron to decide to leave politics in favour of journalism.[48]

Special Adviser to the Chancellor

The Conservatives' unexpected success in the 1992 election led Cameron to hit back at older party members who had criticised him and his colleagues, saying "whatever people say about us, we got the campaign right", and that they had listened to their campaign workers on the ground rather than the newspapers. He revealed he had led other members of the team across Smith Square to jeer at Transport House, the former Labour headquarters.[49] Cameron was rewarded with a promotion to Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont.[50]

Cameron was working for Lamont at the time of Black Wednesday, when pressure from currency speculators forced the pound sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. At the 1992 Conservative Party conference, Cameron had difficulty trying to arrange to brief the speakers in the economic debate, having to resort to putting messages on the internal television system imploring the mover of the motion, Patricia Morris, to contact him.[51] Later that month, Cameron joined a delegation of Special Advisers who visited Germany to build better relations with the Christian Democratic Union; he was reported to be "still smarting" over the Bundesbank's contribution to the economic crisis.[52]

Lamont fell out with John Major after Black Wednesday and became highly unpopular with the public. Taxes needed to be raised in the 1993 Budget, and Cameron fed the options Lamont was considering through to Conservative Campaign Headquarters for their political acceptability to be assessed.[53] By May 1993, the Conservatives' average poll rating dropped below 30%, where they would remain until the 1997 general election.[54] Major and Lamont's personal ratings also declined dramatically. Lamont's unpopularity did not necessarily affect Cameron, who was considered as a potential "kamikaze" candidate for the Newbury by-election, which includes the area where he grew up.[55] However, Cameron decided not to stand.

During the by-election, Lamont gave the response "Je ne regrette rien" to a question about whether he most regretted claiming to see "the green shoots of recovery" or admitting to "singing in his bath" with happiness at leaving the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Cameron was identified by one journalist as having inspired this gaffe; it was speculated that the heavy Conservative defeat in Newbury may have cost Cameron his chance of becoming chancellor himself, even though as he was not a member of Parliament he could not have been.[56] Lamont was sacked at the end of May 1993, and decided not to write the usual letter of resignation; Cameron was given the responsibility to issue to the press a statement of self-justification.[57]

Special Adviser to the Home Secretary

The Home Office building where Cameron worked during the 1990s

After Lamont was sacked, Cameron remained at the Treasury for less than a month before being specifically recruited by Home Secretary Michael Howard. It was commented that he was still "very much in favour"[58] and it was later reported that many at the Treasury would have preferred Cameron to carry on.[59] At the beginning of September 1993, Cameron applied to go on Conservative Central Office's list of prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs).[60]

Cameron was much more socially liberal than Howard but enjoyed working for him.[54] According to Derek Lewis, then Director-General of Her Majesty's Prison Service, Cameron showed him a "his and her list" of proposals made by Howard and his wife, Sandra. Lewis said that Sandra Howard's list included reducing the quality of prison food, although she denied this claim. Lewis reported that Cameron was "uncomfortable" about the list.[61] In defending Sandra Howard and insisting that she made no such proposal, the journalist Bruce Anderson wrote that Cameron had proposed a much shorter definition on prison catering which revolved around the phrase "balanced diet", and that Lewis had written thanking Cameron for a valuable contribution.[62]

During his work for Howard, Cameron often briefed the media. In March 1994, someone leaked to the press that the Labour Party had called for a meeting with John Major to discuss a consensus on the Prevention of Terrorism Act. After an inquiry failed to find the source of the leak, Labour MP Peter Mandelson demanded assurance from Howard that Cameron had not been responsible, which Howard gave.[63][64] A senior Home Office civil servant noted the influence of Howard's Special Advisers, saying previous incumbents "would listen to the evidence before making a decision. Howard just talks to young public school gentlemen from the party headquarters."[65]

Carlton

In July 1994, Cameron left his role as Special Adviser to work as the Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications.[66] Carlton, which had won the ITV franchise for London weekdays in 1991, was a growing media company which also had film-distribution and video-producing arms. Cameron was suggested for the role to Carlton executive chairman Michael P. Green by his later mother-in-law Lady Astor.[67] Cameron left Carlton to run for Parliament in 1997, returning to his job after his defeat.

In 1997, Cameron played up the company's prospects for digital terrestrial television, for which it joined with ITV Granada and Sky to form British Digital Broadcasting. In a roundtable discussion on the future of broadcasting in 1998, he criticised the effect of overlapping different regulators on the industry.[68] Carlton's consortium did win the digital terrestrial franchise, but the resulting company suffered difficulties in attracting subscribers. Cameron resigned as Director of Corporate Affairs in February 2001 to run for Parliament for a second time, although he remained on the payroll as a consultant.

Parliamentary candidacies

Stafford, the constituency Cameron contested at the 1997 General Election

Having been approved for the PPCs' list, Cameron began looking for a seat to contest for the 1997 general election. He was reported to have missed out on selection for Ashford in December 1994, after failing to get to the selection meeting as a result of train delays.[69] In January 1996, when two shortlisted contenders dropped out, Cameron was interviewed and subsequently selected for Stafford, a constituency revised in boundary changes, which was projected to have a Conservative majority.[54][70] The incumbent Conservative MP, Bill Cash, ran instead in the neighbouring constituency of Stone, where he was re-elected. At the 1996 Conservative Party Conference, Cameron called for tax cuts in the forthcoming Budget to be targeted at the low-paid and to "small businesses where people took money out of their own pockets to put into companies to keep them going".[71] He also said the Party "should be proud of the Tory tax record but that people needed reminding of its achievements ... It's time to return to our tax-cutting agenda. The socialist prime ministers of Europe have endorsed Tony Blair because they want a federal pussy cat and not a British lion."[72]

When writing his election address, Cameron made his own opposition to British membership of the single European currency clear, pledging not to support it. This was a break with official Conservative policy, but about 200 other candidates were making similar declarations.[73] Otherwise, Cameron kept closely to the national party line. He also campaigned using the claim that a Labour government would increase the cost of a pint of beer by 24p; however, the Labour candidate, David Kidney, portrayed Cameron as "a right-wing Tory". Initially, Cameron thought he had a 50/50 chance, but as the campaign wore on and the scale of the impending Conservative defeat grew, Cameron prepared himself for defeat.[74] On election day, Stafford had a swing of 10.7%, almost the same as the national swing, which made it one of the many seats to fall to Labour: Kidney defeated Cameron by 24,606 votes (47.5%) to 20,292 (39.2%), a majority of 4,314 (8.3%).[75][76]

In the round of selection contests taking place in the run-up to the 2001 general election, Cameron again attempted to be selected for a winnable seat. He tried for the Kensington and Chelsea seat after the death of Alan Clark, but did not make the shortlist. He was in the final two but narrowly lost at Wealden in March 2000,[77] a loss ascribed by Samantha Cameron to his lack of spontaneity when speaking.[78]

On 4 April 2000, Cameron was selected as PPC for Witney in Oxfordshire. This had been a safe Conservative seat, but its sitting MP Shaun Woodward (who had worked with Cameron on the 1992 election campaign) had "crossed the floor" to join the Labour Party, and was selected instead for the safe Labour seat of St Helens South. Cameron's biographers Francis Elliott and James Hanning describe the two men as being "on fairly friendly terms".[79] Cameron, advised in his strategy by friend Catherine Fall, put a great deal of effort into "nursing" his potential constituency, turning up at social functions and attacking Woodward for changing his mind on fox hunting to support a ban.[80]

During the election campaign, Cameron accepted the offer of writing a regular column for The Guardian's online section.[81] He won the seat with a 1.9% swing to the Conservatives, taking 22,153 votes (45%) to Labour candidate Michael Bartlet's 14,180 (28.8%), a majority of 7,973 (16.2%).[82][83]

Pre-premiership (2001–2010)

Member of Parliament, 2001–2005

Upon his election to Parliament, he served as a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, a prominent appointment for a newly elected MP. Cameron proposed that the Committee launch an inquiry into the law on drugs,[84] and urged the consideration of "radical options".[85] The report recommended a downgrading of ecstasy from Class A to Class B, as well as moves towards a policy of 'harm reduction', which Cameron defended.[86]

Cameron endorsed Iain Duncan Smith in the 2001 Conservative Party leadership election and organised an event in Witney for party supporters to hear John Bercow speaking for him.[87] Two days before Duncan Smith won the leadership contest on 13 September 2001, the 9/11 attacks occurred. Cameron described Tony Blair's response to the attacks as "masterful", saying: "He moved fast, and set the agenda both at home and abroad. He correctly identified the problem of Islamist extremism, the inadequacy of our response both domestically and internationally, and supported – quite rightly in my view – the action to remove the Taliban regime from Afghanistan."[88]

Cameron determinedly attempted to increase his public visibility, offering quotations on matters of public controversy. He opposed the payment of compensation to Gurbux Singh, who had resigned as head of the Commission for Racial Equality after a confrontation with the police;[89] and commented that the Home Affairs Select Committee had taken a long time to discuss whether the phrase "black market" should be used.[90] However, he was passed over for a front-bench promotion in July 2002; Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith did invite Cameron and his ally George Osborne to coach him on Prime Minister's Questions in November 2002. The next week, Cameron deliberately abstained in a vote on allowing same-sex and unmarried couples to adopt children jointly, against a whip to oppose; his abstention was noted.[91] The wide scale of abstentions and rebellious votes destabilised the Duncan Smith leadership.

In June 2003, Cameron was appointed a shadow minister in the Privy Council Office as a deputy to Eric Forth, then shadow leader of the House. He also became a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party when Michael Howard took over the leadership in November of that year. He was appointed Opposition frontbench local government spokesman in 2004, before being promoted to the Shadow Cabinet that June as head of policy co-ordination. Later, he became shadow education secretary in the post-election reshuffle.[92]

Daniel Finkelstein has said of the period leading up to Cameron's election as leader of the Conservative party that "a small group of us (myself, David Cameron, George Osborne, Michael Gove, Nick Boles, Nick Herbert I think, once or twice) used to meet up in the offices of Policy Exchange, eat pizza, and consider the future of the Conservative Party".[93] Cameron's relationship with Osborne is regarded as particularly close; Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi suggested the closeness of Osborne's relationship with Cameron meant the two effectively shared power during Cameron's time as prime minister.[94]

From February 2002 to August 2005, he was a non-executive director of Urbium PLC, operator of the Tiger Tiger bar chain.[95]

Conservative Party leadership

David Cameron campaigning in the 2006 local elections at Newcastle upon Tyne on the Gateshead Millennium Bridge

2005 leadership election

Following the Labour victory in the May 2005 general election, Michael Howard announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and set a lengthy timetable for the leadership election. Cameron announced on 29 September 2005 that he would be a candidate. Parliamentary colleagues supporting him included Boris Johnson, shadow chancellor George Osborne, shadow defence secretary and deputy leader of the party Michael Ancram, Oliver Letwin[96] and former party leader William Hague.[97] His campaign did not gain wide support until his speech, delivered without notes, at the 2005 Conservative party conference. In the speech, he vowed to make people "feel good about being Conservatives again" and said he wanted "to switch on a whole new generation."[98] His speech was well-received; The Daily Telegraph said speaking without notes "showed a sureness and a confidence that is greatly to his credit".[99]

In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on 18 October 2005, Cameron came second, with 56 votes, slightly more than expected; David Davis had fewer than predicted at 62 votes; Liam Fox came third with 42 votes; and Kenneth Clarke was eliminated with 38 votes. In the second ballot on 20 October 2005, Cameron came first with 90 votes; David Davis was second, with 57; and Liam Fox was eliminated with 51 votes.[100] All 198 Conservative MPs voted in both ballots.

The next stage of the election process, between Davis and Cameron, was a vote open to the entire party membership. Cameron was elected with more than twice as many votes as Davis and more than half of all ballots issued; Cameron won 134,446 votes on a 78% turnout, to Davis's 64,398.[101] Although Davis had initially been the favourite, it was widely acknowledged that his candidacy was marred by a disappointing conference speech.[102] Cameron's election as the leader of the Conservative Party and leader of the opposition was announced on 6 December 2005. As is customary for an opposition leader not already a member, upon election Cameron became a member of the Privy Council, being formally approved to join on 14 December 2005, and sworn of the council on 8 March 2006.[103]

Reaction to Cameron as Leader

Cameron being interviewed at the headquarters of Oxfam in 2006

Cameron's relative youth and inexperience before becoming leader invited satirical comparison with Tony Blair. Private Eye soon published a picture of both leaders on its front cover, with the caption "World's first face transplant a success".[104] On the left, the New Statesman unfavourably likened his "new style of politics" to Tony Blair's early leadership years.[105] Cameron was accused of paying excessive attention to appearance: ITV News broadcast footage from the 2006 Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth showing him wearing four different sets of clothes within a few hours.[106] In his column for The Guardian, comedy writer and broadcaster Charlie Brooker described the Conservative leader as "a hollow Easter egg with no bag of sweets inside" in April 2007.[107]

On the right of the party, Norman Tebbit, the former Conservative chairman, likened Cameron to Pol Pot, "intent on purging even the memory of Thatcherism before building a New Modern Compassionate Green Globally Aware Party".[108] Quentin Davies, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour on 26 June 2007, branded him "superficial, unreliable and [with] an apparent lack of any clear convictions" and stated that Cameron had turned the Conservative Party's mission into a "PR agenda".[109] Traditionalist conservative columnist and author Peter Hitchens wrote: "Mr Cameron has abandoned the last significant difference between his party and the established left", by embracing social liberalism.[110] The Daily Telegraph correspondent and blogger Gerald Warner was particularly scathing about Cameron's leadership, saying that it alienated traditionalist conservative elements from the Conservative Party.[111]

Before he became Conservative leader, Cameron was reportedly known to friends and family as "Dave", though his preference is "David" in public.[112][113] Labour used the slogan Dave the Chameleon in their 2006 local elections party broadcast to portray Cameron as an ever-changing populist, which was criticised as negative campaigning by the Conservative press, including The Daily Telegraph,[114] though Cameron asserted the broadcast had become his daughter's "favourite video".[115]

Allegations of recreational drug use

During the leadership election, allegations were made that Cameron had used cannabis and cocaine recreationally before becoming an MP.[116] Pressed on this point during the BBC television programme Question Time, Cameron expressed the view that everybody was allowed to "err and stray" in their past.[117] During his 2005 Conservative leadership campaign, he addressed the question of drug consumption by remarking: "I did lots of things before I came into politics which I shouldn't have done. We all did."[117]

Shadow Cabinet appointments

Cameron speaking at the Home Office, on 13 May 2010

His Shadow Cabinet appointments included MPs associated with the various wings of the party. Former leader William Hague was appointed to the foreign affairs brief, while both George Osborne and David Davis were retained, as shadow chancellor of the Exchequer and shadow home secretary respectively. Hague, assisted by Davis, stood in for Cameron during his paternity leave in February 2006.[118] In June 2008, Davis announced his intention to resign as an MP, and was immediately replaced as shadow home secretary by Dominic Grieve; Davis' surprise move was seen as a challenge to the changes introduced under Cameron's leadership.[119]

David Cameron with the future prime minister Theresa May, who was a member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1999 until 2010

A reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet was undertaken in January 2009. The chief change was the appointment of former chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke as shadow business, enterprise and regulatory reform secretary, with Cameron stating that "With Ken Clarke's arrival, we now have the best economic team." The reshuffle also saw eight other changes made.[120]

European Conservatives and Reformists

During his successful 2005 campaign to be elected leader of the Conservative Party, Cameron pledged that the Conservative Party's members of the European Parliament would leave the European People's Party group, which had a "federalist" approach to the European Union.[121] Once elected, Cameron began discussions with right-wing and Eurosceptic parties in other European countries, mainly in eastern Europe; in July 2006, he concluded an agreement to form the Movement for European Reform with the Czech Civic Democratic Party, leading to the formation of a new European Parliament group, the European Conservatives and Reformists, in 2009 after the European Parliament elections.[122] Cameron attended a gathering at Warsaw's Palladium cinema celebrating the foundation of the alliance.[123]

In forming the caucus, which had 54 MEPs drawn from eight of the 27 EU member states, Cameron reportedly broke with two decades of Conservative co-operation with the centre-right Christian Democrats, the European People's Party (EPP),[124] on the grounds that they are dominated by European federalists and supporters of the Lisbon treaty.[124] EPP leader Wilfried Martens, former prime minister of Belgium, stated: "Cameron's campaign has been to take his party back to the centre in every policy area with one major exception: Europe. ... I can't understand his tactics. Merkel and Sarkozy will never accept his Euroscepticism."[124]

Shortlists for Parliamentary candidates

Similarly, Cameron's initial "A-List" of prospective parliamentary candidates was attacked by members of his party,[125] and the policy was discontinued in favour of sex-balanced final shortlists. Before being discontinued, the policy had been criticised by senior Conservative MP and former Prisons Spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe as an "insult to women", and she had accused Cameron of "storing up huge problems for the future."[126]

South Africa

In April 2009, The Independent reported that in 1989, while Nelson Mandela remained imprisoned under the apartheid regime, Cameron had accepted a trip to South Africa paid for by an anti-sanctions lobby firm. A spokesperson for Cameron responded by saying that the Conservative Party was at that time opposed to sanctions against South Africa and that his trip was a fact-finding mission. However, the newspaper reported that Cameron's then superior at Conservative Research Department called the trip "jolly", saying that "it was all terribly relaxed, just a little treat, a perk of the job. The Botha regime was attempting to make itself look less horrible, but I don't regard it as having been of the faintest political consequence." Cameron distanced himself from his party's history of opposing sanctions against the regime. He was criticised by Labour MP Peter Hain, himself an anti-apartheid campaigner.[127]

Raising teaching standards

At the launch of the Conservative Party's education manifesto in January 2010, Cameron declared an admiration for the "brazenly elite" approach to education of countries such as Singapore and South Korea, and expressed a desire to "elevate the status of teaching in our country".[128] He suggested the adoption of more stringent criteria for entry to teaching, and offered repayment of the loans of maths and science graduates obtaining first or 2.1 degrees from "good" universities.[129]

Wes Streeting, then president of the National Union of Students, said: "The message that the Conservatives are sending to the majority of students is that if you didn't go to a university attended by members of the Shadow Cabinet, they don't believe you're worth as much."[130]

Expenses

During the MPs expenses scandal in 2009, Cameron said he would lead Conservatives in repaying "excessive" expenses and threatened to expel MPs that refused, after the expense claims of several members of his shadow cabinet had been questioned:

We have to acknowledge just how bad this is, the public are really angry and we have to start by saying, "Look, this system that we have, that we used, that we operated, that we took part in—it was wrong and we are sorry about that".[131]

One day later, The Daily Telegraph published figures showing over five years he had claimed £82,450 on his second home allowance.[132] Cameron repaid £680 claimed for repairs to his constituency home.[133] Although he was not accused of breaking any rules, Cameron was placed on the defensive over mortgage interest expense claims covering his constituency home, after a report in The Mail on Sunday suggested he could have reduced the mortgage interest bill by putting an additional £75,000 of his own money towards purchasing the home in Witney, instead of paying off an earlier mortgage on his London home.[134] Cameron said that doing things differently would not have saved the taxpayer any money, as he was paying more on mortgage interest than he was able to reclaim as expenses anyway.[134] He also spoke out in favour of laws giving voters the power to "recall" or "sack" MPs accused of wrongdoing.[134] In April 2014, he was criticised for his handling of the expenses row surrounding Culture Secretary Maria Miller, when he rejected calls from fellow Conservative MPs to sack her from the front bench.[135]

2010 general election

The Conservatives had last won a general election in 1992. The 2010 general election resulted in the Conservatives, led by Cameron, winning the largest number of seats (306). This was, however, 20 seats short of an overall majority, and resulted in the nation's first hung parliament since February 1974.[136]

2010 government formation

Talks between Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg led to an agreed Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition. Cameron, in late 2009, had urged the Liberal Democrats to join the Conservatives in a new "national movement", saying there was "barely a cigarette paper" between them on a large number of issues. The invitation was rejected at the time by the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, who said that the Conservatives were totally different from his party, and that the Lib Dems were the true "progressives" in UK politics.[137]

Premiership (2010–2016)

US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron exchange bottles of beer to settle a bet they made on the US vs. England World Cup football match (which ended in a draw), during a bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit in Toronto, Canada, Saturday, 26 June 2010
Meeting President Barack Obama during the 2010 G20 Toronto summit

On 11 May 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown as prime minister and on his recommendation, Queen Elizabeth II invited Cameron to form a new administration.[138] At age 43, Cameron became the youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812, beating the record previously set by Tony Blair in May 1997.[1] In his first address outside 10 Downing Street, he announced his intention to form a coalition government, the first since the Second World War, with the Liberal Democrats.

Cameron in 2009 as leader of the opposition, with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who later became deputy prime minister, and Lib Dem spokesman Chris Huhne

Cameron outlined how he intended to "put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest."[1] As one of his first moves Cameron appointed Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, as deputy prime minister on 11 May 2010.[138] Between them, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats controlled 363 seats in the House of Commons, with a majority of 76 seats.[139]

In June 2010, Cameron described the economic situation as he came to power as "even worse than we thought" and warned of "difficult decisions" to be made over spending cuts.[140] By the beginning of 2015, he was able to claim that his government's austerity programme had succeeded in halving the budget deficit, although as a percentage of GDP rather than in cash terms.[141][142]

Cameron hosting a hunger summit in 2012, with Pelé (second left) and Mo Farah (right) outside 10 Downing St.

In December 2010, Cameron attended a meeting with FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon, in which a vote-trading deal for the right to host the 2018 World Cup in England was discussed.[143][144]

Cameron agreed to holding the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and eliminated the "devomax" option from the ballot for a straight out yes or no vote. His support for the successful Better Together campaign extended to making a successful request to the Queen to intervene.[145] He had also backed a successful campaign to retain the status quo in a referendum on changing the voting system, held at the request of his coalition partners. The 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union meant that his tenure as British prime minister saw an unprecedented three referendums on the UK's constitutional future.

He supported the introduction of gay marriage, despite more of his own Conservative MPs voting against the move than for it, meaning the support of Lib Dem MPs in government and Labour MPs in opposition was required to allow it to pass.[146]

Earlier in his term, he had managed to secure a huge majority for UK participation in UN-backed military action in Libya,[147] but Cameron became the first prime minister since 1782 to lose a foreign policy vote in the House of Commons over proposed military action against Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.[148][149] Subsequently, Barack Obama asked congressional approval,[150] which was not ultimately granted.

Economy

UK median household disposable income by income group for 2008–2016, indexed to 2008[151]

In response to the Great Recession, Cameron undertook the austerity programme. This was a deficit reduction programme consisting of sustained reductions in public spending, intended to reduce the government budget deficit and the welfare state in the United Kingdom. The National Health Service[152] and education[153] were "ringfenced" and protected from direct spending cuts.[154] Together with Chancellor George Osborne, Cameron aimed to eliminate the structural deficit (i.e. deficit on current spending as opposed to investment), and to have government debt falling as a percentage of GDP.[155] By 2015, the deficit as a percentage of GDP had been reduced to half what it was in 2010, and the sale of government assets (mostly the shares of banks nationalised in the 2000s) had resulted in government debt as a proportion of GDP falling.[155]

Immigration

Cameron said immigration from outside the EU should be subject to annual limits. He said in July 2013 that "in the last decade we have had an immigration policy that's completely lax. The pressure it puts on our public services and communities is too great."[156] In 2015, The Independent reported: "The Conservatives have failed spectacularly to deliver their pledge to reduce net migration to less than 100,000 a year. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a net flow of 298,000 migrants to the UK in the 12 months to September 2014—up from 210,000 in the previous year."[157]

Defence and foreign affairs

Defence cuts

Cameron visits British troops in Afghanistan, 3 October 2014

In 2014, Cameron dismissed warnings that his cuts to the UK defence budget had left it less than a "first class-player in terms of defence" and no longer a "full partner" to the United States.[158]

In the July 2015 budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the UK defence spending would meet the NATO target of 2% of GDP.[159]

NATO military intervention in Libya

Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague speaking to NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen (left) at the London Conference on Libya, 29 March 2011

Cameron condemned the violence used against anti-Gaddafi protesters at the beginning of the Libyan Civil War[160] After weeks of lobbying by the UK and its allies, on 17 March 2011, the United Nations Security Council approved a no-fly zone to prevent government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on anti-Gaddafi rebels.[161] Two days later, the UK and the United States fired more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at targets in Libya.[162]

Cameron said he was "proud" of the role United Kingdom played in the overthrow of Gaddafi's government.[163] Cameron also stated that UK had played a "very important role",[164] adding that "a lot of people said that Tripoli was completely different to Benghazi and that the two don't get on—they were wrong. ... People who said 'this is all going to be an enormous swamp of Islamists and extremists'—they were wrong".[165]

In 2015 through 2016, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee conducted an extensive and highly critical inquiry into the British involvement in the civil war. It concluded that the early threat to civilians had been overstated, and that the significant Islamist element in the rebel forces had not been recognised, due to an intelligence failure. By mid-2011, the initial limited intervention to protect Libyan civilians had become a policy of regime change. However, that new policy did not include proper support for a new government, leading to a political and economic collapse in Libya, and the growth of ISIL in North Africa. It concluded that Cameron was ultimately responsible for this British policy failure.[166][167][168]

US president Barack Obama also acknowledged there had been issues with following up the conflict planning, commenting in an interview with The Atlantic that Cameron had allowed himself to be "distracted by a range of other things".[169][170][171]

Falklands

In 2013, in response to Argentina's calls for negotiations over the Falkland Islands' sovereignty, a referendum was called, asking Falkland Islanders whether they supported the continuation of their status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. With a turnout of 91.94%, an overwhelming 99.8% voted to remain a British territory, with only three votes against.[172]

In light of this, Cameron said: "We believe in the Falkland islanders' right to self-determination. They had a referendum. They couldn't have been more clear about wanting to remain with our country and we should protect and defend them".[173]

Saudi Arabia

Cameron supported Britain's close relationship with Saudi Arabia.[174] In January 2015, Cameron travelled to the Saudi capital Riyadh to pay his respects, following the death of the nation's King Abdullah.

According to WikiLeaks, Cameron initiated a secret deal with Saudi Arabia, ensuring both countries were elected onto the UN Human Rights Council.[175] In 2015, Cameron's government announced "firm political support" for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Shi'a Houthis,[176] re-supplying the Saudi military with weapons and providing them with training.[177][178][179]

Sri Lanka

Cameron reiterated calls for an independent investigation into the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War.[180] "There needs to be proper inquiries into what happened at the end of the war, there needs to be proper human rights, democracy for the Tamil minority in that country" Cameron stated.[181][182] He stated that, if this investigation was not completed by March 2014, he would press for an independent international inquiry.[183][184][185] This followed a visit to Jaffna, a war-ravaged town in the northern part of Sri Lanka; Cameron was the first foreign leader to visit Jaffna since the island once colonised by Britain became independent in 1948.[186][187] Cameron was mobbed by demonstrators, mostly women, seeking his assistance in tracing missing relatives.[188][189]

Turkey

In a speech in Ankara in July 2010, Cameron stated unequivocally his support for Turkey's accession to the EU, citing economic, security and political considerations, and claimed that those who opposed Turkish membership were driven by "protectionism, narrow nationalism or prejudice".[190][191] In that speech, he was also critical of Israeli action during the Gaza flotilla raid and its Gaza policy, and repeated his opinion that Israel had turned Gaza into a "prison camp",[190] having previously referred to Gaza as "a giant open prison".[192] These views were met with mixed reactions.[193][194] The Cameron government declined to formally recognise the Ottoman Empire's massacres of Armenians as a "genocide".[195]

During the EU referendum campaign, Cameron stated that Turkey was unlikely to be ready to join the EU "until the year 3000", at its current rate of progress.[196]

Israel

At the end of May 2011, Cameron stepped down as patron of the Jewish National Fund,[197][198] becoming the first British prime minister not to be patron of the charity in the 110 years of its existence.[199]

In a speech in 2011, Cameron said: "You have a prime minister whose commitment and determination to work for peace in Israel is deep and strong. Britain will continue to push for peace, but will always stand up for Israel against those who wish her harm". He said he wanted to reaffirm his "unshakable" belief in Israel within the same message.[200] He also voiced his opposition to the Goldstone Report, claiming it had been biased against Israel and not enough blame had been placed on Hamas.

In March 2014, during his first visit to Israel as prime minister, Cameron addressed Israel's Knesset in Jerusalem, where he offered his full support for peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians, hoping a two-state solution might be achieved.[201] He also made clear his rejection of trade or academic boycotts against Israel,[202] acknowledged Israel's right to defend its citizens as "a right enshrined in international law", and made note of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, as "the moment when the State of Israel went from a dream to a plan, Britain has played a proud and vital role in helping to secure Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people."[201] During his two-day visit, he met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.[203] Senior Foreign Office minister Baroness Warsi resigned over the Cameron government's decision not to condemn Israel for the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, saying that the government's "approach and language during the current crisis in Gaza is morally indefensible."[204]

Military intervention in Iraq and Syria

In August 2013, Cameron lost a motion in favour of bombing Syrian armed forces in response to the Ghouta chemical attack, becoming the first prime minister to suffer such a foreign-policy defeat since 1782.[205] In September 2014, MPs passed a motion in favour of British planes joining, at the request of the Iraqi government, a bombing campaign against Islamic State (IS) targets in Iraq;[206] the motion explicitly expressed parliament's disapproval of UK military action in Syria.[207] Cameron promised that, before expanding UK air strikes and ground support to include IS units in Syria, he would seek parliamentary approval.[208]

In July 2015, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Reprieve revealed that, without the knowledge of UK parliamentarians, RAF pilots had, in fact, been bombing targets in Syria, and that Cameron knew of this.[209][210] The Prime Minister, along with Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, faced strong criticism, including from Conservative MPs, for not informing the Commons about this deployment; the Ministry of Defence said that the pilots concerned were "embedded" with foreign military forces, and so were "effectively" operating as such, while Fallon denied that MPs had been, as he put it, "kept in the dark".[211][212][213] The Reprieve FoI request also revealed that British drone pilots had been embedded, almost continuously, with American forces at Creech Air Force Base since 2008. These drone operators, who were "a gift of services", meaning the UK still paid their salaries and covered their expenses, had been carrying out operations that included reconnaissance in Syria to assist American strikes against IS.[214]

Cameron and Russian president Putin at the G20 Antalya summit, Turkey, 16 November 2015

Fallon said that it was "illogical" for the UK not to bomb ISIL in Syria, for the organisation does not "differentiate between Syria and Iraq" and is "organised and directed and administered from Syria".[215] Following the terrorist attacks on Paris in November 2015, for which Islamic State claimed responsibility, Cameron began pushing for a strategy for the Royal Air Force to bomb Syria in retaliation.[216] Cameron set out his case for military intervention to Parliament on 26 November, telling MPs that it was the only way to guarantee Britain's safety, and would be part of a "comprehensive" strategy to defeat IS.[217] On 3 December 2015, MPs voted 397–223 in favour of launching air strikes against ISIL targets in Syria. The vote for military action was supported by all but seven members of the Parliamentary Conservative Party, as well as 66 Labour MPs who backed the government in defiance of their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who had expressed his opposition to air strikes.[218]

2015 general election

On 7 May 2015, Cameron was re-elected UK prime minister with a majority in the Commons.[219] The Conservative Party's decisive victory in the general election was a surprise, as most polls and commentators had suggested the outcome was too close to call and that the result would be a second hung parliament.[220] Cameron said of his first term when returned as prime minister for a second term that he was "proud to lead the first coalition government in 70 years" and offered particular thanks to Clegg for his role in it.[221] Forming the first Conservative majority government since 1992, David Cameron became the first prime minister to be re-elected immediately after a full term with a larger popular vote share since Lord Salisbury at the 1900 general election.

In response to the November 2015 Paris attacks, Cameron secured the support of the House of Commons to extend air strikes against ISIS into Syria.[222] Earlier that year, Cameron had outlined a five-year strategy to counter Islamist extremism and subversive teachings.[223]

2016 referendum and resignation

Cameron announcing his resignation as prime minister following the UK vote to leave EU membership.

As promised in the election manifesto, Cameron set a date for a referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the European Union, and announced that he would be campaigning for Britain to remain within a "reformed EU".[224] The terms of the UK's membership of the EU were re-negotiated, with agreement reached in February 2016.[225] The option to leave came to be known as Brexit (a portmanteau of "British" and "exit").

The referendum was held on 23 June 2016. The result was approximately 52% in favour of leaving the European Union and 48% against, with a turnout of 72%.[226][227] On 24 June, a few hours after the results became known, Cameron announced that he would resign the office of prime minister by the start of the Conservative Party Conference in October 2016. In a speech the next day outside 10 Downing Street, he stated that, on account of his own advocacy on behalf of remaining in the EU: "I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination."[4][228][229]

There was some strong criticism made of Cameron and his government following the referendum. Matthew Norman, in an opinion piece in The Independent, called the referendum an act of "indescribably selfish recklessness."[230] In late July, Parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee was told that Cameron had refused to allow the Civil Service to make plans for Brexit, a decision the committee described as "an act of gross negligence."[231] His farewell speech as he left No. 10 accompanied by his family stressed the value of selfless public service.[232]

The Conservative Party leadership election was scheduled for 9 September and the new leader was expected to be in place by the autumn conference, set to begin on 2 October.[233] On 11 July, following the withdrawal of Andrea Leadsom from the Conservative Party leadership election and the confirmation of Theresa May as the new leader of the Conservative Party, Cameron announced he would hold a final cabinet meeting on 12 July and then, following a final Prime Minister's Questions, submit his resignation to the Queen on the afternoon of 13 July. After his final Prime Minister's Questions, Cameron received a standing ovation from MPs; his final comment was, "I was the future once" – a reference to his 2005 quip to Tony Blair, "he was the future once". Cameron then submitted his resignation to the Queen later that day.[234]

Although no longer serving as prime minister, Cameron originally stated that he would continue inside Parliament, on the Conservative backbenches.[235] On 12 September, however, he announced that he was resigning his seat with immediate effect,[236] and was appointed to the Manor of Northstead. He was succeeded as MP for Witney by fellow Conservative Robert Courts.[237] The Washington Post described him as having "sped away without glancing back" once Theresa May had "vaulted herself out of the hurricane-strength political wreckage of Britain's vote to leave the European Union."[238]

Political views and image

Self-description of views

Cameron described himself in December 2005 as a "modern compassionate conservative" and spoke of a need for a new style of politics, saying that he was "fed up with the Punch and Judy politics of Westminster".[239] He was "certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite",[240] saying he was a "liberal Conservative", though "not a deeply ideological person."[241] As leader of the opposition, Cameron asserted that he did not intend to oppose the government as a matter of course, and would offer his support in areas of agreement. He has urged politicians to concentrate more on improving people's happiness and "general well-being", instead of focusing solely on "financial wealth".[242] There were claims that he described himself to journalists at a dinner during the leadership contest as the "heir to Blair".[243]

In his first Conservative conference speech as party leader in Bournemouth in 2006, he described the National Health Service as "one of the 20th Century's greatest achievements". He went on to say: "Tony Blair explained his priorities in three words: education, education, education. I can do it in three letters: N.H.S." He also talked about his severely disabled son, Ivan, concluding: "So, for me, it is not just a question of saying the NHS is safe in my hands—of course it will be. My family is so often in the hands of the NHS, so I want them to be safe there."[244]

Cameron talking with US president Obama and German chancellor Merkel at Deauville, France, 25 May 2011

Cameron said that he believed in "spreading freedom and democracy, and supporting humanitarian intervention" in cases such as the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. However, he rejected neoconservatism because, as a conservative, he recognises "the complexities of human nature, and will always be sceptical of grand schemes to remake the world."[245] A supporter of multilateralism, as "a country may act alone—but it cannot always succeed alone", he believes multilateralism can take the form of acting through "NATO, the UN, the G8, the EU and other institutions", or through international alliances.[246] Cameron said: "If the West is to help other countries, we must do so from a position of genuine moral authority" and "we must strive above all for legitimacy in what we do."[246]

He believes that British Muslims have a duty to integrate into British culture, but noted in an article published in 2007, that the Muslim community finds aspects such as high divorce rates and drug use uninspiring, and: "Not for the first time, I found myself thinking that it is mainstream Britain which needs to integrate more with the British Asian way of life, not the other way around."[247] In his first speech as PM on radicalisation and the causes of terrorism in February 2011, Cameron said that "state multiculturalism" had failed.[248] In 2010, he appointed the first Muslim member of the British cabinet, Baroness Warsi, as a minister without portfolio, and in 2012 made her a special minister of state in foreign affairs. She resigned, however, in August 2014 over the government's handling of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.

While urging members of his party to support the coalition's proposals for same-sex marriage, Cameron said that he backed gay marriage not in spite of his conservatism, but because he is a conservative, and claimed it was about equality.[249] In 2012, Cameron publicly apologised for Thatcher-era policies on homosexuality, specifically the introduction of the controversial Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which he described as "a mistake".[250]

Home affairs

Poverty

In 2006, Cameron described poverty as a "moral disgrace"[251] and promised to tackle relative poverty.[252] In 2007, Cameron promised: "We can make British poverty history, and we will make British poverty history". Also, in 2007, he stated: "Ending child poverty is central to improving child well-being".[253] In 2015, Polly Toynbee questioned Cameron's commitment to tackling poverty, contrasting his earlier statements agreeing that "poverty is relative" with proposals to change the government's poverty measure, and saying that cuts in child tax credits would increase child poverty among low-paid working families.[254] Cameron denied that austerity had contributed to the 2011 England riots, instead blaming street gangs and opportunistic looters.[255]

LGBT rights

In 2010, Cameron was given a score of 36% in favour of lesbian, gay and bisexual equality by Stonewall.[256] Prior to 2005, Cameron was opposed to gay rights, calling it a "fringe agenda" and attacking Prime Minister Tony Blair for "moving heaven and earth to allow the promotion of homosexuality in our schools" by repealing the anti-gay Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988.[257] Cameron is recorded by Hansard as having voted against same-sex adoption rights in 2002, but he denies this, claiming he abstained from the three-line whip imposed on him by his party. In 2008, he wanted lesbians who receive IVF treatment to be required to name a father figure, which received condemnation from LGBT equality groups.[257] However, Cameron supported commitment for gay couples in a 2005 speech, and in October 2011 urged Conservative MPs to support gay marriage.[249]

In November 2012, Cameron and Nick Clegg agreed to fast-track legislation for introducing same-sex marriage.[258] Cameron stated that he wanted to give religious groups the ability to host gay marriage ceremonies, and that he did not want to exclude gay people from a "great institution".[259] In 2013, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 became law despite opposition from more than half of his fellow Conservative MPs, including Cabinet ministers Owen Paterson and David Jones.[260] He also subsequently appointed two women who had voted against same-sex marriage as ministers in the Government Equalities Office, Nicky Morgan and Caroline Dinenage following the 2015 general election.[261]

In August 2013, he rejected calls by Stephen Fry and others to strip Russia from hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics due to its anti-gay laws.[262] Cameron did not attend the games, but denied it was a boycott in protest at Russia's laws, having previously raised the issue of gay rights in the country with Vladimir Putin.[263]

Marriage and family values

In 2009, Cameron said "the restoration of family values and a new commitment to economic and social responsibility" were "key to repairing 'broken Britain'".[264] In 2013 Cameron described himself as "a marriage man, I am a great supporter of marriage. I want to promote marriage, defend marriage, encourage marriage." As such, he rejected calls from Conservative MP Christopher Chope to extend civil partnership rights to heterosexual couples, saying: "I think we should be promoting marriage rather than looking at any other way of weakening it."[265] In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that this position was discriminatory.[266]

Comments on other parties and politicians

Cameron criticised Gordon Brown (when Brown was Chancellor of the Exchequer) for being "an analogue politician in a digital age" and referred to him as "the roadblock to reform".[267] As prime minister, he reacted to press reports that Brown could be the next head of the International Monetary Fund by hinting that he may block the appointment, citing the huge national debt that Brown left the country with as a reason for Brown not being suitable for the role.[268]

He said that John Prescott "clearly looks a fool" after Prescott's personal indiscretions were revealed in spring 2006, and wondered if the Deputy Prime Minister had broken the ministerial code.[269] During a speech to the Ethnic Media Conference in November 2006, Cameron also described Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, as an "ageing far left politician" following Livingstone's criticism of Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality.[270]

Cameron with his predecessors Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, John Major and Deputy PM Nick Clegg, during President Barack Obama's address in Westminster Hall, 10 June 2011

In January 2007, Cameron made a speech in which he described extremist Islamic organisations and the British National Party as "mirror images" to each other, both preaching "creeds of pure hatred".[271] Cameron is listed as being a supporter of Unite Against Fascism.[272]

In April 2006, Cameron accused the UK Independence Party of being "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly",[273] leading UKIP MEP Nigel Farage (who became leader in September of that year) to demand an apology for the remarks. Right-wing Conservative MP Bob Spink, who later defected to UKIP, also criticised the remarks,[274] as did The Daily Telegraph.[275] Cameron was seen encouraging Conservative MPs to join the standing ovation given to Tony Blair at the end of his last Prime Minister's Question Time; he had paid tribute to the "huge efforts" Blair had made and said Blair had "considerable achievements to his credit, whether it is peace in Northern Ireland or his work in the developing world, which will endure".[276]

In September 2015, after the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, Cameron called the party a "threat" to British national and economic security, on the basis of Corbyn's defence and fiscal policies.[277]

"Dodgy Dave" moniker

In April 2016, then Labour MP for Bolsover, Dennis Skinner was reprimanded by House Speaker John Bercow for referring to Cameron as 'Dodgy Dave' (related to Skinner's contention of Cameron's dishonesty) in a parliamentary debate about the Panama Papers. Skinner was instructed by Bercow to repeat his question without referring to Cameron using the adjective 'dodgy'. When Skinner repeated his question, once again referring to Cameron as 'Dodgy Dave', he was ordered to leave parliament for the remainder of that day's session. [278][279] In July 2016, Skinner once again referred to Cameron as 'Dodgy Dave' in parliament, however this time he was not reprimanded, or asked to leave.[280]

"Dodgy Dave" has gained usage in the media, and on social media, when Cameron is being referred to disparagingly.[281][282][283][284][285]

Foreign affairs

Iraq War

In an interview on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in 2006, Cameron said that he supported the decision of the then Labour Government to go to war in Iraq, and said that he thought supporters should "see it through".[286] He also supported a motion brought by the SNP and Plaid Cymru in 2006, calling for an inquiry into the government's conduct of the Iraq war. In 2011, he oversaw the withdrawal of British soldiers from Iraq. He repeatedly called for the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war to conclude and publish its findings, saying: "People want to know the truth".[287]

India

Cameron was a strong advocate of increased ties between India and the United Kingdom, describing Indian–British relations as the "New Special Relationship" in 2010.[288][289]

In October 2012, as Narendra Modi rose to prominence in India, the UK rescinded its boycott of the then-Gujarat state Chief Minister over religious riots in Gujarat in 2002 that left more than 2,000 dead,[290] and in November 2013, Cameron commented that he was "open" to meeting Modi.[291] Modi was later elected as prime minister in a landslide majority, leading to Cameron calling Modi and congratulating him on the "election success",[292] one of the first Western leaders to do so.[293]

China

In October 2015, Xi Jinping, the president of the People's Republic of China, paid a state visit to the United Kingdom under the Premiership of Cameron. Episodes, such as the Chinese leader famously having a pint with Cameron at a local pub in Buckinghamshire,[294] and Queen Elizabeth hailing the visit as "milestone" during state banquet,[295] symbolised the increased cordiality between China and the United Kingdom under Cameron, in spite of the controversies around the state visit and the concerns with China's superpower status. The state visit was the third formal Anglo–Chinese diplomatic meetings, which involves either head of states or head of governments, following Cameron's visit to China in 2013 and then–Premier Li Keqiang's UK visit in 2014; the year 2015 alone also marked an unprecedented level of bilateral meetings and visits.[296]

The unprecedented level of relations with China has also led many, including the PRC and Cameron himself, marking his premiership as a "golden-era" of UK–China relations, where bilateral cooperations raising to its apex. The UK government was even seen expressing interests in participating in Chinese diplomatic projects under Xi Jinping, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).[297] By 2023, upon Cameron's appointment as foreign secretary, eight years apart from the state visit of Xi, he was associating by media outlets, home and abroad, with the keyword "golden era",[298] even dubbing Cameron himself as "Lord Golden Era",[299] prompting concerns over the stances of the Sunak government towards China as the latter welcomes Cameron's appointment as foreign secretary.[300]

Russia

In the years after Cameron became UK prime minister, UK relations with Russia initially showed a marked improvement. In 2011, Cameron visited Russia, and in 2012, Putin visited the UK for the first time in seven years, holding talks with Cameron, and also visiting the 2012 London Olympics together.[301]

In May 2013, Cameron flew to meet Putin at his summer residence in Sochi, Bocharov Ruchei, to hold talks on the Syria crisis. Cameron described the talks as "very substantive, purposeful and useful", and the leaders exchanged presents with each other. At that time, it was suggested that Cameron could use his good relations with both US president Barack Obama, and President Putin to act as a 'go-between' in international relations.[302] However Cameron's relations to Russia soured drastically following the Russo-Ukrainian War. Cameron criticised the 2014 Crimean status referendum as a "sham", with voters having "voted under the barrel of a kalashnikov", stating "Russia has sought to annex Crimea.... This is a flagrant breach of international law and something we will not recognise."[303]

Cameron has gone on to be a fierce critic of Russia, and Putin, and supporter of Ukraine.[304]

Political image

Allegations of social elitism

Cameron speaking at a Conservative reception in 2008

While leader of the Conservative Party, Cameron was accused of reliance on "old-boy networks",[305] and conversely attacked by his party for the imposition of selective shortlists of women and ethnic minority prospective parliamentary candidates.[125]

Some of Cameron's senior appointments, such as George Osborne as chancellor of the Exchequer, are former members of the Bullingdon Club. Michael Gove conceded it was "ridiculous" how many fellow Cabinet ministers were old Etonians, though he placed the blame on the failings of the state education system rather than Cameron.[306] However, Michael Mosbacher, co-founder of Standpoint, wrote that Cameron's cabinet has the lowest number of Etonians of any past Conservative government: "David Cameron's government is the least patrician, least wealthy and least public-school-educated—indeed the least Etonian Conservative-led government this country has ever seen".[307]

Cameron speaking in 2010

Plots against leadership

Following poor results in the May 2012 local elections after a difficult few months for the government, with Labour increasing its lead in the polls, there were concerns from Conservative MPs about Cameron's leadership and his electability. David Davies, the chairman of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, accused the Conservative leadership of "incompetence", and hinted that it could risk Cameron's leadership.[308] Nadine Dorries warned the Prime Minister that a leadership challenge could happen.[309]

Later that year, Conservative MP Brian Binley openly said that Cameron's leadership was like being a "maid" to the Liberal Democrats, and accused him of leading the party to defeat. In January 2013, it was revealed that Adam Afriyie was planning his own bid for the Conservative leadership with the support of fellow MPs Mark Field, Bill Wiggin, Chris Heaton-Harris, Patrick Mercer, Jonathan Djanogly and Dan Byles. The Times and ConservativeHome revealed that a "rebel reserve" of 55 Conservative MPs gave firm pledges to a co-ordinating MP to support a motion of no confidence and write to Brady simultaneously, more than the 46 MPs needed to trigger a vote of no confidence.[310] Andrew Bridgen openly called for a vote of confidence in Cameron's leadership, and claimed that the Prime Minister had a "credibility problem", but he dropped his bid for a contest a year later.[311]

Cameron and Andy Coulson

In 2007, Cameron appointed Andy Coulson, former editor of the News of the World, as his director of communications. Coulson had resigned as the paper's editor following the conviction of a reporter in relation to illegal phone hacking, although stating that he knew nothing about it.[312][313] In June 2010, Downing Street confirmed Coulson's annual salary as £140,000, the highest pay of any special adviser to UK Government.[314]

In January 2011, Coulson left his post, saying coverage of the phone-hacking scandal was making it difficult to give his best to the job.[312] In July 2011, he was arrested and questioned by police in connection with further allegations of illegal activities at the News of the World, and released on bail. Despite a call to apologise for hiring Coulson by the Leader of the Opposition, Cameron defended the appointment, saying that he had taken a conscious choice to give someone who had screwed up a second chance.[315] The same month, in a special parliamentary session at the House of Commons, arranged to discuss the News International phone hacking scandal, Cameron said that he "regretted the furore" that had resulted from his appointment of Coulson, and that "with hindsight" he would not have hired him.[316] Coulson was detained and charged with perjury by Strathclyde Police in May 2012.[317][318] Coulson was convicted of conspiracy to hack phones in June 2014. Prior to the jury handing down their verdict, Cameron issued a "full and frank" apology for hiring him, saying: "I am extremely sorry that I employed him. It was the wrong decision and I am very clear about that." The judge hearing Coulson's trial was critical of the Prime Minister, pondering whether the intervention was out of ignorance or deliberate, and demanded an explanation.[319]

Cameron and Lord Ashcroft

Although Lord Ashcroft played a significant role in the 2010 election, he was not offered a ministerial post.[320] In June 2012, shortly before a major Conservative rebellion on House of Lords reform,[321] journalist Peter Oborne credited Ashcroft with "stopping the Coalition working" by moving policy on Europe, welfare, education and taxation to the right.[320] According to Oborne, Ashcroft, owner of both the ConservativeHome and PoliticsHome websites and a "brutal critic of the Coalition from the start", had established "megaphone presence" in the on-line media. He believes Cameron's philosophy of liberal conservatism has been destroyed by "coordinated attacks on the Coalition" and "the two parties are no longer trying to pretend that they are governing together."[320]

In The Observer, Andrew Rawnsley commented that he believes that Ashcroft uses carefully timed opinion polls to "generate publicity", "stir trouble for the Prime Minister" and influence the direction of the party.[322] In 2015, Ashcroft released Call Me Dave, an unauthorised biography of Cameron written with journalist Isabel Oakeshott, which attracted significant media attention for various lurid allegations about Cameron's time at university. The book includes an anonymous anecdote about Cameron, now referred to as Piggate, in which he allegedly inserted his penis into a dead pig's head. No evidence for the anecdote has been produced. Many commentators have described the accusations as a "revenge job" by Ashcroft, who was not offered a senior role in government when Cameron came to power in 2010.[323][324] Ashcroft initially claimed the book was "not about settling scores", while Oakeshott said that they had held back publication until after the 2015 general election to avoid damaging Cameron and the Conservatives' electoral chances.[325] Ashcroft subsequently admitted that the initiation allegations "may have been case of mistaken identity" and has stated that he has a personal "beef" with Cameron.[323][324][326][327][328] Cameron later went on to deny these allegations and stated that Ashcroft's reasons for writing the book were clear and the public could see clearly through it.[329]

Standing in opinion polls

Protesters outside 10 Downing Street calling for Cameron to resign over the Panama Papers scandal, 9 April 2016

An ICM poll in September 2007 saw Cameron rated the least popular of the three main party leaders.[330][331] A YouGov poll on party leaders conducted on 9–10 June 2011 found 44% of the electorate thought he was doing well and 50% thought he was doing badly, while 38% thought he would be the best PM and 35% did not know.[332] In the run up to the 2015 election, Cameron achieved his first net positive approval rating in four years, with a YouGov poll finding 47% of voters thought he was doing well as prime minister compared with 46% who thought he was doing badly.[333]

In September 2015, an Opinium poll had similar results to the one shortly before the election, with voters split with 42% who approved of him and 41% who did not.[334] Cameron had significantly better net approval ratings in polls conducting in December and January (getting −6 in both) than Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (who got −38 and −39).[335] However, following the Panama Papers leak in April 2016, his personal approval ratings fell below Corbyn's.[336]

Evaluations of premiership

In the months immediately following his resignation from the post of prime minister, a number of commentators gave negative evaluations of Cameron's premiership. The University of Leeds' 2016 survey of post-war prime ministers, which collected the views of 82 academics specialising in the history and politics of post-war Britain, ranked Cameron as the third-worst prime minister since 1945, ranking above only Alec Douglas-Home and Anthony Eden. 90% of respondents cited his calling and losing of the Brexit referendum as his greatest failure.[337]

Post-premiership and interim years (2016–2023)

On 19 June 2023, Cameron gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.[338]

Cameron speaking at a World Travel and Tourism Council meeting in April 2017

Positions

In October 2016, Cameron became chairman of the National Citizen Service Patrons.[339] In January 2017, he was appointed president of Alzheimer's Research UK to address misconceptions surrounding dementia and campaign for medical research funding to tackle the condition.[340]

All appointments post-premiership have to be approved by the UK government's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. In addition to the two posts above, they also approved the following positions:[341]

Brexit

Cameron maintained a low profile following his resignation as prime minister and the subsequent Brexit negotiations. In January 2019, following Theresa May's defeat in the House of Commons over her draft withdrawal agreement, Cameron gave a rare interview to reporters outside his house in Notting Hill, saying he backed May's Brexit deal with the EU and did not regret calling the 2016 referendum.[344] However, he later said that the outcome of the referendum had left him "hugely depressed", and told The Times he knew "some people will never forgive me". He confessed: "Every single day I think about it, and the fact that we lost, and the consequences, and the things that could have been done differently, and I worry desperately".[345]

In the months following Boris Johnson's election as prime minister, Cameron began criticising Johnson's Brexit strategy, including his decision to prorogue parliament ahead of the Brexit deadline of 31 October, and the removal of the whip from Conservative MPs who voted to block a no-deal Brexit. Additionally, he accused Johnson, as well as Michael Gove, of behaving "appallingly" during the referendum campaign of 2016.[345]

In September 2020, Cameron became the fifth former prime minister to criticise the UK Internal Market Bill, over which he said he had "misgivings". Cameron said the "bigger picture" was about trying to get a trade deal with the EU, urging the government to "keep that context [and] that big prize in mind."[346]

Memoir

On 19 September 2019, Cameron published a memoir, For the Record, through HarperCollins.[347] He was reported to have signed an £800,000 contract for the book.[348] According to the Guardian, the book was initially scheduled for 2018, but was delayed so Cameron would not be perceived as a "backstreet driver" in the ongoing Brexit negotiations.[347][349]

Greensill scandal

During Cameron's premiership, the financier Lex Greensill, was an unpaid advisor who had access to eleven government departments.[350] In 2018, Cameron became an advisor to Greensill Capital and held share options in the company[351] reportedly worth as much as $60 million as well as being paid over $1 million each year for 25 days work per year.[352][350] A Panorama investigation concluded that overall, through a combination of his salary and share sales, Cameron earned around $10 million before tax for 30 months part-time work.[353]

In 2019, Cameron arranged for a private meeting with Lex Greensill and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock; under Hancock, several NHS trusts went on to use Greensill Capital's Earnd app.[354] In 2020, a few months before Greensill Capital collapsed, Cameron lobbied the government to bend the rules to allow it to receive Covid Corporate Financing Facility loans.[355][356][357][358] He sent several text messages to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who ultimately declined to help Greensill; Cameron also held ten virtual meetings with permanent secretaries Tom Scholar and Charles Roxburgh to try to obtain money for Greensill.[359][360][350] The government-owned British Business Bank lent Greensill up to £400m through a different scheme, leading to a potential £335m loss to the taxpayer.[361] After press revelations in 2021 regarding the extent of Greensill Capital's access, a formal investigation was launched by the UK lobbying registrar to be led by Nigel Boardman, a non-executive board member of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.[362][363]

NYU Abu Dhabi

In January 2023, Cameron was assigned to teach politics in a three-week course at New York University Abu Dhabi. He was to lecture students on "practising politics and government in the age of disruption", which included topics like the Ukraine war and migration crisis.[364]

Migrant crisis

In May 2023, Cameron expressed support for the Rwanda asylum plan and Suella Braverman's policies against illegal immigration into the UK, arguing in an interview with LBC: "I think if you don't have a better answer to the things that the government is doing to try and stop this illegal trade, then I think there's no point criticising."[365][366]

Foreign Secretary (2023–present)

Cameron and Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, 22 November 2023
Cameron and Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen at Be’eri, 23 November 2023

In Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's cabinet reshuffle on 13 November 2023, Cameron was appointed foreign secretary, replacing James Cleverly, who became home secretary.

It was announced simultaneously that Cameron would receive a life peerage, thus making him a member of the House of Lords and the first former prime minister to be raised to the peerage since Margaret Thatcher.[367] On 17 November 2023, he was created Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton, of Chipping Norton in the County of Oxfordshire.[368][369] Lord Carrington, a hereditary peer, was the last foreign secretary to sit in the Lords, serving from 1979 until his resignation in 1982.[370] Cameron was introduced to the House of Lords on 20 November, supported by Lord True and Baroness Williams of Trafford.[371][372]

Cameron made his first working visit to Ukraine as foreign secretary on 16 November, meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, where he reiterated the UK's commitment to provide moral, diplomatic and "above all military support for ... however long it takes".[373]

In London, on 15 and 16 November, lawyers representing Cameron in his capacity as foreign secretary fought for sanctions on British journalist Graham Phillips to remain in place. Phillips's barrister Joshua Hitchens, challenging the government, described the sanctions on Phillips as "Orwellian".[374]

Cameron with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel, 24 January 2024
Cameron with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul, Turkey, 26 January 2024

On 23 November, Cameron visited the site of the Be'eri massacre, part of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, to meet Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen. Afterwards, he met the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss among other urgent matters, facilitating further aid to Gaza.[375] Cameron said in an interview with the BBC that he told Israeli officials that "they must abide by international humanitarian law" and that the number of Palestinian casualties was "too high". He also said that the "settler violence" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is "completely unacceptable".[376] On 17 December, Cameron backed a "sustainable ceasefire" in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, called for more aid to reach Gaza, and called for the Israeli government to "do more to discriminate sufficiently between terrorists and civilians". He however rejected calls for a "general and immediate ceasefire", differentiating this from the "sustainable ceasefire" he called for alongside German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock.[377]

In early December, Cameron urged US lawmakers to agree to a funding bill for military aid to Ukraine or risk "making a mistake comparable to the British act of appeasement that empowered Adolf Hitler before World War II".[304]

On 9 January 2024, Cameron admitted he is "worried" that Israel has "taken action that might be in breach of international law", saying he wanted Israel to restore water supplies to Gaza.[378]

On 14 January, Cameron said that "Israel is acting in self-defence after the appalling attack on October 7" and denied that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. He dismissed South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel as "nonsense", saying that Israel is "a democracy, a country with the rule of law, a country with armed forces that are committed to obeying the rule of law".[379]

Cameron announced in late January that the government would consider recognising Palestine as a country, while also adding that would help to make a two-state solution "irreversible".[380]

On 15 February 2024, Cameron supported the United States Congress bill to allocate military aid to Ukraine, saying that he did not want the West to "show weakness displayed against Putin in 2008, when he invaded Georgia, or the uncertainty of the response in 2014, when he took Crimea and much of the Donbas - before coming back to cost us far more with his aggression in 2022".[381]

In popular culture

Cameron made a cameo appearance in the BBC television programme Top Gear's India Special, where he tells the trio of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond to "stay away from India" after initially denying the group's request to improve economic relations with India in a letter and suggested that they mend fences with Mexico. Cameron later stated through his aides that he did not like the special that he cameoed in, and that he had the "utmost respect" for the people of India.[382]

Cameron was portrayed by comedian Jon Culshaw in ITV's satirical sketch show Newzoids,[383] and by Mark Dexter in the Channel 4 television films Coalition and Brexit: The Uncivil War. In 2019, he was interviewed for The Cameron Years, a BBC mini-documentary series on his premiership.[384]

Personal life

Family

Samantha Cameron in 2012

In 1996, Cameron married Samantha Sheffield, the daughter of Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet, and Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones (later Viscountess Astor). A Marlborough College school friend of Cameron's sister Clare, Samantha accepted Clare's invitation to accompany the Cameron family on holiday in Tuscany, Italy, after graduating from the Bristol School of Creative Arts. It was then David and Samantha's romance started.

The Camerons have had four children. Their first, Ivan Reginald Ian, was born on 8 April 2002 in Hammersmith and Fulham, London, with a rare combination of cerebral palsy and a form of severe epilepsy called Ohtahara syndrome, requiring round-the-clock care. Recalling the receipt of this news, Cameron was quoted as saying: "The news hits you like a freight train ... You are depressed for a while because you are grieving for the difference between your hopes and the reality. But then you get over that, because he's wonderful."[385] Ivan was cared for at the specialist NHS Cheyne Day Centre in West London, which closed shortly after he left it. Ivan died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, on 25 February 2009, aged six.[386]

The Camerons have two daughters, Nancy Gwen (born 2004) and Florence Rose Endellion (born 2010),[387] and a son, Arthur Elwen (born 2006).[388] Cameron took paternity leave when Arthur was born, and this decision received broad coverage.[389] It was also stated that Cameron would be taking paternity leave after his second daughter was born.[387] She was born at the Royal Cornwall Hospital on 24 August 2010, three weeks prematurely, while the family was on holiday in Cornwall. Her third given name, Endellion, is taken from the village of St Endellion near where the Camerons were holidaying.[390][391]

In early May 2008, the Camerons decided to enroll their daughter Nancy at a state primary school. For three years before that, they had been attending its associated church, St Mary Abbots,[392] near the Cameron family home in North Kensington.[393] Cameron's constituency home is in Dean, Oxfordshire, and the Camerons have been described as key members of the Chipping Norton set.[394]

On 8 September 2010, it was announced that Cameron would miss Prime Minister's Questions to fly to southern France to see his father, Ian Cameron, who had had a stroke with coronary complications. Later that day, his father died.[395] On 17 September 2010, Cameron attended a private ceremony for the funeral of his father in Berkshire, which prevented him from hearing the address of Pope Benedict XVI in Westminster Hall, an occasion he would otherwise have attended.[396]

Inheritance and family wealth

In October 2010, Cameron inherited £300,000 from his father's estate. Ian Cameron, who had worked as a stockbroker in the City of London, used multimillion-pound investment funds based in offshore tax havens, such as Jersey, Panama City and Geneva, to increase the family wealth. In 1982, Ian Cameron created the Panamanian Blairmore Holdings, an offshore investment fund, valued at about $20 million in 1988, "not liable to taxation on its income or capital gains", which used bearer shares until 2006.[397]

In April 2016, following the Panama Papers financial documents leak, he faced calls to resign, after it was revealed that he and his wife Samantha had invested in Ian Cameron's offshore fund.[398] He owned £31,500 of shares in the fund and sold them for a profit of £19,000 shortly before becoming prime minister in 2010, which he paid full UK tax on.[399] Cameron argued that the fund was set up in Panama so that people who wanted to invest in dollar-denominated shares and companies could do so, and because full UK tax was paid on all profits he made, there was no impropriety.[400] A protest was held in London in April 2016, demanding Cameron's resignation.[401][402]

In 2009, the New Statesman estimated his wealth at £3.2 million, adding that Cameron is expected to inherit "million-pound legacies" from both sides of his family.[403]

Leisure

Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, François Hollande and others watch the penalty shootout of the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, with Cameron celebrating Chelsea's victory over Bayern Munich.

Before becoming prime minister, Cameron regularly used his bicycle to commute to work. In early 2006, he was photographed cycling to work, followed by his driver in a car carrying his belongings. His Conservative Party spokesperson subsequently said that this was a regular arrangement for Cameron at the time.[404] Cameron is an occasional jogger and in 2009 raised funds for charities by taking part in the Oxford 5K and the Great Brook Run.[405]

Cameron supports Aston Villa.[406] A member of MCC, he is also a keen cricket fan and has appeared on Test Match Special.[407]

A 2012 biography, Cameron: Practically a Conservative, stated that "If "chillaxing" was an Olympic sport then David Cameron, would win a gold medal", citing Cameron's fondness for relaxing. The biography stated that Cameron's "ability to separate his private life from his professional life is seen as an asset by some friends, and by others as a sign of complacency in the midst of a double dip recession."[408]

Faith

At a Q&A in August 2013, Cameron described himself as a practising Christian and an active member of the Church of England.[409] On religious faith in general, he said: "I do think that organised religion can get things wrong but the Church of England and the other churches do play a very important role in society."[410] He said he considers the Bible "a sort of handy guide" on morality.[411] He viewed Britain as a "Christian country", and aimed to put faith back into politics.[412]

Bibliography

  • Cameron, David; Jones, Dylan (2008). Cameron on Cameron: Conversations with Dylan Jones. Fourth Estate. ISBN 9780007285365.
  • Cameron, David (2009). Tory Policy Making: The Conservative Research Department, 1929-2009. Conservative Research Department. ISBN 978-1905116041.
  • Cameron, David (2019). For the Record. William Collins. ISBN 9781785176593.

References

  1. ^ a b c Hough, Andrew (11 May 2010). "David Cameron becomes youngest Prime Minister in almost 200 years". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  2. ^ "Rishi Sunak: The wealthy millennial who rocketed to power". BBC News. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  3. ^ Morris, Nigel (22 May 2014). "David Cameron sticks to his guns on immigration reduction pledge even while numbers rise". The Independent. London: Independent Print Ltd. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "EU referendum: UK votes to leave in historic referendum". BBC News. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  5. ^ Stewart, Heather; Mason, Rowena; Syal, Rajeev (24 June 2016). "David Cameron resigns after UK votes to leave European Union". The Guardian. London. PM announces resignation following victory for leave supporters after divisive referendum campaign
  6. ^ "David Cameron: I saw a world of darkness getting bigger and bigger". Financial Times. December 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. ^ Gibbons, Amy (13 November 2023). "Cabinet reshuffle live: David Cameron named Foreign Secretary in sensational political return". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  8. ^ "2016 UK EU membership referendum". Policy Navigator. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  9. ^ Skidelsky, Robert (12 September 2019). "Cameron's great fault was mental idleness and today's crisis is a direct consequence of his carelessness". New Statesman. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b Kershaw, Ian; Seldon, Anthony; Todd, Selina; Adi, Hakim; Gardiner, Juliet; Bogdanor, Vernon (15 July 2016). "David Cameron's legacy: the historians' verdict". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  11. ^ Norman, Matthew (13 September 2016). "What made Cameron the worst Prime Minister in living history". The Independent. London: Independent Print Ltd. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  12. ^ a b "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837–2008," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVW7-QGCZ : accessed 21 April 2016), David William D Cameron, 1966; from "England & Wales Births, 1837–2006," database, findmypast(http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, St. Marylebone, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
  13. ^ Elliott, Francis; Hanning, James (2007). Cameron: the Rise of the New Conservative. London: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-00-724367-9.
  14. ^ a b Wheeler, Brian (6 December 2005). "The David Cameron Story". BBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  15. ^ "CAMERON, Alexander Allan". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  16. ^ Debrett's Peerage 2011, p. B 714.
  17. ^ "David Cameron and Slains Castle". The North Scotland Beehive. Aberdeen: Aberdeen Civic Society. 2 March 2006. Archived from the original on 17 August 2007.
  18. ^ "Marriages". The Times. London. 24 July 1905. p. 1. Retrieved 22 March 2013.(subscription required)
  19. ^ a b Howker, Ed; Malik, Shiv (20 April 2012). "David Cameron's family fortune: the Jersey, Panama and Geneva connection". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  20. ^ Clark, Ross (26 January 2002). "Highlands for the high life". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  21. ^ Martin, Iain; Porter, Andrew (10 December 2007). "David Cameron flies the flag for Britain". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  22. ^ "David Cameron: Jewish Care". SayIt. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  23. ^ Holehouse, Matthew (12 March 2014). "David Cameron tells Israelis about his Jewish ancestors". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  24. ^ Blake, Heidi (27 February 2010). "Cameron at Heatherdown School". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 March 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  25. ^ Elliott, Francis; Hanning, James (2007). Cameron: The Rise of the New Conservative. London: Fourth Estate. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-00-724366-2.
  26. ^ "Hall of Fame, David Cameron". BBC Wales. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  27. ^ Elliott and Hanning, p. 32.
  28. ^ Elliott and Hanning, pp. 45–46.
  29. ^ Elliott and Hanning, p. 46.
  30. ^ Paton, Graeme (9 September 2009). "David Cameron: Eton College should run a state school". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  31. ^ Elliott and Hanning, pp. 46–47.
  32. ^ Elliott and Hanning, pp. 47–48.
  33. ^ "Cameron: KGB tried to recruit me". BBC News. 28 May 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  34. ^ "Brasenose alumnus becomes Prime Minister" Archived 22 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Brasenose College. No date. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  35. ^ "Too good to be true?". The Sunday Times. London. 25 March 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  36. ^ Mayer, Catherine (11 September 2008). "David Cameron: UK's Next Leader?". Time. New York. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  37. ^ Jeffries, Stuart (1 July 2006). "Professor Vernon Bogdanor on David Cameron". The Guardian. London. p. 31. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  38. ^ Foster, Patrick (28 January 2006). "How young Cameron wined and dined with the right sort". Times Online. Archived from the original on 11 February 2008.
  39. ^ "Bullingdon Club: behind Oxford University's elite society". theweek.co.uk. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  40. ^ [dead link] Rentoul, John (30 March 2011). "Origins of the Cameron-Balls Feud". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  41. ^ Snowdon 2010, p. 9.
  42. ^ "Atticus", The Sunday Times, 30 June 1991
  43. ^ "House of Commons 6th series, vol. 193, cols. 1133–34", Hansard. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  44. ^ "Diary", The Times, 14 August 1991.
  45. ^ Wood, Nicholas (13 March 1992). "New aide for Prime Minister". The Times (London).
  46. ^ "Sleep little babies". The Times (London). 20 March 1992.
  47. ^ Wood, Nicholas (23 March 1992). "Strain starts to show on Major's round the clock 'brat pack'". The Times (London).
  48. ^ "Campaign fall-out". The Times. 30 March 1992.
  49. ^ Pierce, Andrew (11 March 1992). "We got it right, say Patten's brat pack". The Sunday Times (London).
  50. ^ "Brats on the move". The Times (London). 14 April 1992.
  51. ^ "Diary", The Times, 8 October 1992.
  52. ^ "Peace-mongers". The Times (London). 20 October 1992.
  53. ^ Hencke, David (8 February 1993). "Treasury tax review eyes fuel and children's clothes". The Guardian (London).
  54. ^ a b c Snowdon 2010, p. 24.
  55. ^ White, Michael; Wintour, Patrick (26 February 1993). "Points of Order". The Guardian (London).
  56. ^ "Careless talk". The Times (London). 10 May 1993.
  57. ^ Smith, David; Prescott, Michael (30 May 1993). "Norman Lamont: the final days" (Focus). The Sunday Times (London).
  58. ^ "No score flaw". The Times (London). 22 June 1993.
  59. ^ Grigg, John (2 October 1993). "Primed Minister". The Times (London).
  60. ^ "Newbury's finest". The Times (London). 6 September 1993.
  61. ^ Leigh, David (23 February 1997). "Mrs Howard's own recipe for prison reform". The Observer (London).
  62. ^ Anderson, Bruce (1 March 1997). "Derek Lewis: Big job, little man, inaccurate book". The Spectator (London).
  63. ^ Wintour, Patrick (10 March 1994). "Smith fumes at untraced leak". The Guardian (London).
  64. ^ "6th Series, vol. 239 col. 292", Hansard, 9 March 1994. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  65. ^ Cohen, Nick (20 February 1994). "Inside Story: Heading for trouble: Michael Howard's strategy on crime faces opposition from police, judges and the prison service". The Independent on Sunday. London. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  66. ^ "Smallweed". The Guardian (London). 16 July 1994.
  67. ^ Robinson, James; Teather, David (20 February 2010). "Cameron – the PR years". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  68. ^ "We can't wait any longer to map the digital mediascape". New Statesman (London). 3 April 1998.
  69. ^ "Pendennis". The Observer (London). 1 January 1995.
  70. ^ White, Michael (9 March 1996). "Seat-seeking missiles". The Guardian. London.
  71. ^ Sherman, Jill (11 October 1996). "Clarke challenged to show gains of economic recovery". The Times (London).
  72. ^ "Conservative Party Conference 1996". BBC Archive. 10 October 1996
  73. ^ Travis, Alan (17 April 1997). "Rebels' seven-year march". The Guardian (London).
  74. ^ Snowdon 2010, p. 3.
  75. ^ Elliott and Hanning (2007), pp. 172–5.
  76. ^ "Stafford 1997 election result". BBC. 1997. Archived from the original on 29 April 1997. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  77. ^ White, Michael (14 March 2000). "Rightwingers and locals preferred for safe Tory seats". The Guardian (London).
  78. ^ Elliott and Hanning (2007), p. 193.
  79. ^ Elliott and Hanning (2007), p. 192.
  80. ^ "Why Shaun Woodward changed his mind" (Letter). The Daily Telegraph. 21 December 2000.
  81. ^ "The Cameron diaries" (archive). The Guardian (London).
  82. ^ Dod's Guide to the General Election June 2001. (Vacher Dod Publishing, 2001). p. 430.
  83. ^ "Vote 2001: Results & Constituencies: Witney" Archived 3 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. BBC. 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  84. ^ Elliott, Francis; Hanning, James (2007). Cameron: The Rise of the New Conservative. London: Fourth Estate. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-00-724366-2
  85. ^ "Examination of Witnesses: question 123" Archived 29 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Hansard, 30 October 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  86. ^ "Let's inject reality into the drugs war", Edinburgh Evening News, 22 May 2002
  87. ^ Cameron, David (2019). For the Record. United Kingdom: William Collins. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-008-23928-2.
  88. ^ Cameron, David (2019). For the Record. United Kingdom: William Collins. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-008-23928-2.
  89. ^ Johnston, Philip; Barrow, Becky (8 August 2002). "£129,000 for race chief in drunken fracas". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  90. ^ "They said what?". The Observer (London). 30 June 2002.
  91. ^ "Rebels and non-voters". The Times (London). 6 November 2002.
  92. ^ "Contender: David Cameron" Archived 27 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News. 29 September 2005. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  93. ^ Finkelstein, Daniel (19 February 2010). "Why Purnell mattered". Comment Central (The Times blog). London. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  94. ^ Parker, George (6 March 2015). "The reinvention of George Osborne". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  95. ^ Branigan, Tania; White, Michael (18 November 2005). "Cameron defends drinks industry links – and tells Paxman where he's going wrong" Archived 15 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian (London). Retrieved 20 December 2006.
  96. ^ "Tory leadership: Who backed who?". BBC News. 17 October 2005. Archived from the original on 15 December 2005. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
  97. ^ "Hague backs Cameron as new leader". BBC News. 12 November 2005. Archived from the original on 9 December 2005. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
  98. ^ "Cameron targets 'new generation'"". BBC News. 4 October 2005. Archived from the original on 21 December 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  99. ^ "David Cameron stakes his claim". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. 5 October 2005.
  100. ^ "Cameron and Davis top Tory poll". BBC News. 20 October 2005. Archived from the original on 15 December 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  101. ^ "Cameron chosen as new Tory leader". BBC News. 6 December 2005. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
  102. ^ Jones, George; Carlin, Brendan (7 December 2005). "Old challenger loses out to young pretender". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  103. ^ "Privy Council Appointment of David Cameron MP". 10 Downing Street. 14 December 2005. Archived from the original on 9 January 2008.
  104. ^ Roshan Lall, Rashmee (16 December 2005)."Britain pins its hopes on David" Archived 15 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine. The Times of India (Mumbai). Retrieved 20 September 2007.
  105. ^ Cohen, Nick (8 August 2005). "The birth of Blameron". New Statesman. London. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011.
  106. ^ "ITV News". ITN. 2006.[full citation needed]
  107. ^ Brooker, Charlie (2 April 2007). "David Cameron is like a hollow Easter egg, with no bag of sweets inside. He's nothing. He's no one" Archived 18 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian (London). Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  108. ^ The Economist (London). 4 February 2006, p. 32.
  109. ^ "Conservative MP defects to Labour". BBC News. 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  110. ^ Hitchens, Peter (14 December 2005). "The Tories are doomed" Archived 13 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian (London). p. 28. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  111. ^ Blogs – Gerald Warner[permanent dead link]. The Daily Telegraph.
  112. ^ Rumbelow, Helen (21 May 2005)."The gilded youth whose son steeled him in adversity". The Times (London). Retrieved 4 September 2007. (subscription required) Archived 14 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  113. ^ Daniel Finkelstein in October 2006 objected to those attempting to belittle Cameron by calling him "Dave". See Finkelstein, Daniel (5 October 2006). "The Dave Test". The Times Comment Central (blog). Archived from the original on 24 April 2011.
  114. ^ Jones, George; Wilson, Graeme; Burleigh, James (19 April 2006). "Blair resorts to cartoon jibes at Dave the chameleon". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  115. ^ Rifkind, Hugo (17 May 2006). "Well, that worked". The Times "People" blog. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
  116. ^ Lezard, Nicholas (10 November 2005). "What cocaine says about you". The Guardian. London. p. 12. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  117. ^ a b "Cameron pressed on drugs question". BBC News. 14 October 2005. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  118. ^ Tempest, Matthew (14 February 2006). "Cameron is father for third time". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  119. ^ Porter, Andrew (12 June 2008). "David Davis to resign from shadow cabinet and as MP". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  120. ^ The strongest possible Shadow Cabinet Archived 30 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Conservatives.com. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  121. ^ White, Michael; Branigan, Tania (18 October 2005). "Clarke battles to avoid Tory wooden spoon". Archived 2 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian (London). p. 1.
  122. ^ Watt, Nicholas (13 July 2006). "Cameron to postpone creation of new EU group". Archived 2 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian (London). p. 14.
  123. ^ Medek, Jakub (1 June 2009)."Kaczyński: Europe Is Anti-Catholic" Archived 1 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Gazeta Wyborcza (Warsaw). Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  124. ^ a b c Traynor, Ian (2 June 2009). "Anti-gay, climate change deniers: meet David Cameron's new friends". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  125. ^ a b "Don't ditch Tory values, MP warns". BBC News. 13 October 2006. Archived from the original on 29 November 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  126. ^ McSmith, Andy (22 August 2006). "Cameron push for more female MPs 'an insult to women'". The Independent (London).
  127. ^ Merrick, Jane; Hanning, James (26 April 2009). "Cameron's freebie to apartheid South Africa". The Independent on Sunday. London. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  128. ^ Kirkup, James (7 February 2010). "David Cameron pledges 'brazen elitism' in teaching". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 21 January 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  129. ^ Garner, Richard (18 January 2010). "'Only for elite' fear over Tory teaching deal". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  130. ^ "NUS comments on David Cameron's proposals to create 'Good University' shortlist" (Press release). National Union of Students. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2014.[permanent dead link]
  131. ^ "'Appalled' Cameron leads payback". BBC News. 12 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 May 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  132. ^ The Guardian (London) 2009 David Cameron claimed over £1,000 a month on second home Archived 18 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine
  133. ^ "David Cameron's expenses". The Daily Telegraph. London. 26 June 2009. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  134. ^ a b c "Cameron backs MP 'sacking' powers". BBC News. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  135. ^ "David Cameron's handling of Maria Miller scandal losing party votes" Archived 2 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. The Daily Telegraph (London). 8 April 2014.
  136. ^ "BBC News – Election 2010 – Results – United Kingdom – National Results". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  137. ^ Wheeler, Brian (20 September 2009). "Clegg rejects Tory alliance call". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  138. ^ a b "David Cameron is UK's new prime minister". BBC News. 11 May 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  139. ^ Lyall, Sarah (12 May 2010). "Britain's Improbable New Leaders Promise Big Changes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  140. ^ Lyall, Sarah (7 June 2010). "Cameron Warns Britons of Austerity". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  141. ^ Ehrenberg, Billy (5 January 2015). "Have the Conservatives really halved the deficit". City AM. London. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  142. ^ Nelson, Fraser (15 December 2014). "Why is David Cameron now misleading voters about the deficit?". The Spectator. London. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  143. ^ "Prince William and David Cameron caught up in Fifa corruption scanda". The Daily Telegraph. 27 June 2017. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022.
  144. ^ "Video: David Cameron and Prince William implicated in FIFA corruption probe Archived 2019-09-14 at the Wayback Machine". Belfast Telegraph. 28 June 2017.
  145. ^ Carrell, Severin (19 September 2019). "Sturgeon signals Queen should stay out of future Scotland vote". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  146. ^ "More Conservative MPs voted against same-sex marriage than for it". Pink News. London. 5 February 2013. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  147. ^ "MPs back United Nations action against Col Gaddafi". BBC News. 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  148. ^ Wheeler, Brian (9 May 2015). "The David Cameron story". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  149. ^ Watt, Nicholas; Hopkins, Nick (29 August 2013). "Cameron forced to rule out British attack on Syria after MPs reject motion". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  150. ^ "Text of President Obama's Remarks on Syria". The New York Times. 31 August 2013. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2023. impacted by what we saw happen in the United Kingdom this week when the Parliament of our closest ally failed to pass a resolution with a similar goal, even as the Prime Minister supported taking action
  151. ^ "Household disposable income and inequality in the UK – Office for National Statistics". Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  152. ^ "NHS funding protected?". NHS Support Federation. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  153. ^ "School spending stays protected from budget cuts". BBC News. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  154. ^ "Should NHS budget be ring-fenced?". BBC News. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  155. ^ a b Mac Flynn, Paul (6 May 2015). "Austerity in Northern Ireland. Where are we and where are we going?". Nevin Economic Research Institute. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  156. ^ Swinford, Steven (23 July 2013). "David Cameron: 'Immigration is constant drain on public services'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022.
  157. ^ Grice, Andrew (26 February 2015). "David Cameron immigration pledge 'failed spectacularly' as figures show net migration almost three times as high as Tories promised". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  158. ^ Beale, Jonathan (16 January 2014). "David Cameron dismisses Robert Gates' defence cuts warning". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  159. ^ "UK defence spending to be kept at 2% of GDP". The Guardian. London. 8 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  160. ^ "Libya unrest: David Cameron condemns violence". BBC News. 21 February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  161. ^ Judd, Terri (19 March 2011). "Operation Ellamy: Designed to strike from air and sea". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  162. ^ "Libya: US, UK and France attack Gaddafi forces". BBC News. 20 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  163. ^ "David Cameron's Libya statement in full". BBC News. 5 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  164. ^ "Britain should be proud of role in Libya" (Press release). Ministry of Defence. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  165. ^ Mulholland, Hélène (2 September 2011). "Libya intervention: British forces played key role, says Cameron". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  166. ^ "MPs attack Cameron over Libya 'collapse'". BBC News. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  167. ^ Wintour, Patrick (14 September 2016). "MPs deliver damning verdict on Cameron's Libya intervention". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  168. ^ Libya: Examination of intervention and collapse and the UK's future policy options (PDF) (Report). Foreign Affairs Committee (House of Commons). 6 September 2016. HC 119. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  169. ^ "Barack Obama is right to criticise David Cameron's handling of Libya – but the US should not get off the hook". The Independent. London. 11 March 2016. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  170. ^ "Barack Obama accuses David Cameron of getting 'distracted' over Libya and contributing to 's*** show'". The Daily Telegraph. 10 March 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  171. ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey (April 2016). "The Obama Doctrine". The Atlantic. Washington DC. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  172. ^ "Falklands referendum: Voters choose to remain UK territory". BBC News. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  173. ^ "Falkland Islands will always be defended by UK, says David Cameron". The Guardian. London. 24 March 2015. Archived from the original on 21 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  174. ^ "David Cameron defends Britain's alliance with Saudi Arabia and rejects accusations it funds Isis Archived 2020-06-11 at the Wayback Machine". The Independent. 18 January 2016.
  175. ^ "UK and Saudi Arabia 'in secret deal' over human rights council place Archived 2023-07-29 at the Wayback Machine". The Guardian. 29 September 2015.
  176. ^ "Britain offers Saudis support over Yemen strikes Archived 2022-04-08 at the Wayback Machine". Yahoo News. 27 March 2015
  177. ^ Coughlin, Con (23 April 2015). "Yemen crisis: British MPs clash over supplying bombs to Saudi Arabia as coalition launches new air strikes". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022.
  178. ^ "David Cameron boasts of 'brilliant' UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia Archived 2016-02-25 at the Wayback Machine". The Guardian. 25 February 2016.
  179. ^ "David Cameron accused of silently taking Britain into Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen Archived 2017-11-25 at the Wayback Machine". The Independent. 20 January 2016.
  180. ^ Jivanda, Tomas (16 November 2013). "Sri Lanka dismisses David Cameron's call for independent human rights inquiry". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  181. ^ Woodcock, Andrew (15 November 2013). "Sri Lanka: Cameron calls for war crimes inquiry". Scotland on Sunday. Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  182. ^ Aneez, Shihar; Daniel, Frank Jack (15 November 2013). "Britain's Cameron faces protests in former Sri Lanka war zone". Euronews. Reuters. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
  183. ^ "Cameron calls for war crimes inquiry in Sri Lanka". BBC News. 16 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  184. ^ "Britain gives Sri Lanka deadline on war crimes probe". The Hindu. Chennai. Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 16 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  185. ^ "David Cameron puts Sri Lanka on notice over war crime allegations". ABC News. Agence France-Presse. 17 November 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  186. ^ "Residents in Jaffna have hopes raised with Cameron's visit to the North". The Sunday Times. Colombo. Agence France-Presse. 16 November 2013. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  187. ^ Robinson, Nick (15 November 2013). "Cameron in Northern Sri Lanka". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  188. ^ Mason, Rowena (15 November 2013). "David Cameron's car surrounded by Sri Lankan protesters". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  189. ^ Doherty, Ben (16 November 2013). "Tamil protesters mob British Prime Minister in Jaffna". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  190. ^ a b "PM's speech in Turkey" (Press release). Prime Minister's Office. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. I am here to make the case for Turkey's membership of the European Union and to fight for it.
  191. ^ "Cameron 'anger' at slow pace of Turkish EU negotiations". BBC News. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  192. ^ Watt, Nicholas; Sherwood, Harriet (27 July 2010). "David Cameron: Israeli blockade has turned Gaza Strip into a 'prison camp'". The Guardian. London.
  193. ^ Round, Simon (16 September 2010). "Interview: Gideon Levy: The veteran Israeli journalist says his country has behaved unacceptably over Gaza". The Jewish Chronicle. London. Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  194. ^ Shoval, Zalman (2 August 2010). "David Cameron looking both ways". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  195. ^ "Britain sidesteps Armenian genocide recognition a century after killings". The Guardian. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  196. ^ Parker, George (22 May 2016). "Turkey unlikely to join EU 'until the year 3000', says Cameron". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  197. ^ Sherwood, Harriet (29 May 2011). "David Cameron resigns as patron of the Jewish National Fund". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  198. ^ Paul, Jonny (2 June 2011). "Cameron denies political pressure led to JNF resignation". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  199. ^ Rosen, Robyn (2 June 2011). "Cameron's JNF split: it was Israel". The Jewish Chronicle. London. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  200. ^ "Cameron's Jewish roots inform New Year message". The Jewish Chronicle. London. 16 September 2011. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  201. ^ a b "Full text of British PM David Cameron's Knesset speech" Archived 2 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. The Times of Israel (Jerusalem). 12 March 2014.
  202. ^ "Prime minister's belief in Israel 'unbreakable'" Archived 2 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News. 12 March 2014.
  203. ^ "David Cameron tells Israelis about his Jewish ancestors" Archived 26 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. The Daily Telegraph (London). 12 March 2014.
  204. ^ Wintour, Patrick (5 August 2014). "Lady Warsi resigns over UK's 'morally reprehensible' stance on Gaza" Archived 3 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian.
  205. ^ Nelson, Fraser (29 August 2013). "Cameron's historic defeat". The Spectator. Coffee House blog. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  206. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (30 September 2014). "RAF planes bomb Islamic State targets in Iraq for the first time". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  207. ^ "MPs approve air strikes against IS in Iraq – is Syria next?". Channel 4 News. 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  208. ^ Haynes, Deborah (17 July 2015). "British pilots bomb Syria in defiance of Commons vote". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  209. ^ Halliday, Josh; MacAskill, Ewen; Perraudin, Frances (17 July 2015). "British pilots took part in anti-Isis bombing campaign in Syria". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  210. ^ Turner, Camilla; Swinford, Steven (17 July 2015). "David Cameron 'knew British pilots were bombing Syria'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  211. ^ Ridley, Louise (17 July 2015). "Syria Air Strikes By UK Pilots Break Cameron's Promise Of Vote On Military Intervention, Claims Tory MP". The Huffington Post UK. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  212. ^ Wintour, Patrick (20 July 2015). "Tory and Labour MPs warn defence secretary against mission creep in Syria". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  213. ^ "Fallon denies MPs 'kept in dark' about UK role in Syrian air strikes". BBC News. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  214. ^ MacAskill, Ewen (22 July 2015). "RAF personnel assigned to US unit carrying out drone strikes against Isis". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  215. ^ "UK strategy of not attacking Isis in Syria is illogical, says Decence Secretary". The Guardian. London. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  216. ^ "David Cameron: World uniting to fight 'evil threat' of IS". BBC News. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  217. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn 'cannot support UK air strikes in Syria'". BBC News. 26 November 2015. Archived from the original on 27 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  218. ^ "Syria air strikes: MPs authorise UK action against Islamic State". BBC News. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  219. ^ David Cameron [@david_cameron] (4 May 2015). "Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice - stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  220. ^ Clark, Tom (7 May 2015). "Labour has one-point lead over Tories in final Guardian/ICM poll". The Guardian. London.[permanent dead link]
  221. ^ Dathan, Matt (8 May 2015). "David Cameron to lead majority Conservative Government after extraordinary and unexpected night". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  222. ^ "Syria air strikes: MPs authorise UK action against Islamic State". BBC News. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  223. ^ "The four pillars of David Cameron's counter-extremism strategy". The Guardian. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  224. ^ "EU referendum: Cameron sets June date for UK vote". BBC. 20 February 2016. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  225. ^ "Cameron to make statement in Parliament tomorrow". The Hindu. 21 February 2016. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  226. ^ Erlanger, Steven (23 June 2016). "Britain Votes to Leave E.U., Stunning the World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  227. ^ "EU referendum results live: Brexit wins as Britain votes to leave European Union". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  228. ^ Hughes, Laura (30 June 2016). "EU referendum live: David Cameron resigns as UK shocks the world by voting for Brexit". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016.
  229. ^ "Guardian Politics Weekly Soundcloud: Prime Minister David Cameron's statement on Brexit". Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  230. ^ Norman, Matthew (24 June 2016). "David Cameron will go down in history as the Prime Minister who killed his country". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  231. ^ Wintour, Patrick (20 July 2016). "Cameron accused of 'gross negligence' over Brexit contingency plans". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  232. ^ Hughes, Laura (22 July 2016). "Whitehall mandarins block "cronies" honours list over ethical concerns". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  233. ^ "New Tory leader 'should be in place by 9 September'". BBC News. 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  234. ^ Adam.Vallance (12 July 2016). "Resignation of The Right Honourable David Cameron MP as Prime Minister". The Royal Family. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  235. ^ "Cameron bows out of his final PMQs". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 13 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022.
  236. ^ "David Cameron quits as Conservative MP for Witney". BBC News. 12 September 2016. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  237. ^ Oliver, Matt (21 October 2016). "AS IT HAPPENED: Witney by-election count and results". Witney Gazette. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  238. ^ Witte, Griff (17 September 2016). "What does Brexit mean? With divorce talks looming, Britain still doesn't have a clue". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  239. ^ Freedland, Jonathan (7 December 2005). "Enough of this love-in: Bush was a compassionate conservative too". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  240. ^ "Cameron: Tories need new identity". BBC News. 17 November 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  241. ^ Rawnsley, Andrew (18 December 2005). "'I'm not a deeply ideological person. I'm a practical one'". The Observer. London. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  242. ^ "Make people happier, says Cameron". BBC News. 22 May 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  243. ^ Pierce, Andrew (5 October 2005). "Horror as Cameron brandishes the B word". The Times. London. Retrieved 25 November 2006. (subscription required)
  244. ^ "NHS safe in my hands says Cameron". BBC News. 4 October 2006. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  245. ^ "In full: Cameron speech". BBC News. 4 October 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  246. ^ a b "In full: Cameron on foreign policy". BBC News. 11 September 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  247. ^ Cameron, David (13 May 2007). "What I learnt from my stay with a Muslim family". The Observer. London. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  248. ^ "State multiculturalism has failed, says David Cameron". BBC News. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  249. ^ a b Green, Jessica (5 October 2011). "David Cameron urges Tories to back gay marriage". Pink News. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  250. ^ Faiola, Anthony (29 March 2012). "British Conservatives lead charge for gay marriage". The Washington Post.
  251. ^ Mulholland, Hélène (24 November 2006). "Cameron: poverty is a 'moral disgrace'". The Guardian (London).
  252. ^ Eaton, George (24 June 2015). "David Cameron has retreated from his promises on child poverty – but will it cost him?". New Statesman (London).
  253. ^ "Ending child poverty by 2020". Child Poverty Action Group. n.d.
  254. ^ Toynbee, Polly (2 July 2015). "David Cameron abolishes poverty, just like that". The Guardian (London).
  255. ^ Abbas, Mohammed; Croft, Adrian (11 August 2011). "Cameron denies austerity drive caused UK riots". Reuters.
  256. ^ "MPs' voting records". Stonewall. 2010.
  257. ^ a b Hari, Johann (4 February 2010). "Let's talk about sex: Johann Hari grills David Cameron over gay rights". The Independent.
  258. ^ Roberts, Scott (22 November 2012). "Source: David Cameron to introduce equal marriage legislation within weeks". Pink News. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  259. ^ "Gay marriage: David Cameron backs church role". BBC News. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  260. ^ "Gay marriage: MPs back bill despite Conservative backbench opposition". BBC News. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  261. ^ Mason, Rowena (12 May 2015). "Cameron appoints another gay marriage opponent to Equalities Office". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  262. ^ "Fry's Russia Winter Olympics switch call rejected by PM". BBC News. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  263. ^ Grice, Andrew; Wright, Oliver (20 December 2013). "David Cameron to skip Sochi Olympics – but insists it's not a boycott". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  264. ^ Prince, Rosa (29 March 2009). "David Cameron: family values the key to responsible society". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  265. ^ Watt, Nicholas (6 February 2013). "Gay marriage: PM rejects call to allow civil partnerships for straight couples". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  266. ^ "Civil partnerships: First mixed-sex unions take place". BBC News. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  267. ^ "Cameron attacks 'past it' Brown". BBC News. 22 March 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  268. ^ "Cameron hints at blocking Brown bid for IMF job". BBC News. 19 April 2011.
  269. ^ "Cameron: Prescott looks a 'fool'". BBC News. 2 May 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  270. ^ "Cameron attacks 'outdated' mayor". BBC News. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  271. ^ Mulholland, Hélène (29 January 2007). "Muslim extremists are mirror image of BNP, says Cameron". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  272. ^ "Founding signatories". Unite Against Fascism. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  273. ^ Assinder, Nick (4 April 2006). "UKIP and Cameron's war of words". BBC News. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  274. ^ Carlin, Brendan (6 April 2006). "Tory MP defends Ukip in racist row". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  275. ^ "UKIP deserves better". The Daily Telegraph. 5 April 2006. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  276. ^ "Cameron praises Blair achievement". BBC News. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  277. ^ Stone, Jon (13 September 2015). "David Cameron claims Jeremy Corbyn is a 'threat to national security'". The Independent. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  278. ^ "David Cameron Questioned After Panama Papers Uproar". 11 April 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  279. ^ "Dennis Skinner Gets Thrown Out Of Commons For Calling Cameron 'Dodgy Dave'". 11 April 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  280. ^ "Celebrities Dennis Skinner just called Cameron 'Dodgy Dave' again at PMQs". 6 July 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  281. ^ "Dennis Skinner's infamous 'dodgy Dave' comment resurfaces amid David Cameron return". 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  282. ^ "The Return of Dodgy Dave and the Exile of Suella Braverman". 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  283. ^ "The Return of Dodgy Dave". 13 November 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  284. ^ "David Cameron lobbying: Bank of England documents suggest 'Dodgy Dave' turned to 'Desperate Dave' over Greensill". 13 November 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  285. ^ "Which Nickname Should David Cameron be Remembered By". 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  286. ^ "Cameron backs Blair on Iraq war". BBC News. 23 June 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  287. ^ MacAskill, Ewan (21 August 2015). "David Cameron pushes Chilcot for Iraq report: 'We want this inquiry finished'". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  288. ^ Morris, Chris (27 July 2010). "Does India want a 'special relationship' with UK?". BBC News.
  289. ^ Nelson, Dean (7 July 2010). "Ministers to build a new 'special relationship' with India". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010.
  290. ^ Burke, Jason (22 October 2012). "UK government ends boycott of Narendra Modi". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  291. ^ Mason, Rowena (14 November 2013). "Cameron open to meeting Indian Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi". The Guardian. London.
  292. ^ Roy, Shubhajit (17 May 2014). "Barack Obama dials Modi". The Indian Express. Mumbai. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  293. ^ Najar, Nida (19 May 2014). "In Modi's Twitter Diplomacy, A Notable Omission". The New York Times (blog). Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  294. ^ "Chinese buy President Xi and David Cameron visit pub". BBC News. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  295. ^ "Xi Jinping visit: UK-China ties 'will be lifted to new height'". BBC News. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  296. ^ "觀點:中英開創兩國關係「黃金期」". BBC News 中文 (in Traditional Chinese). 16 October 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  297. ^ "A "Golden Era" for China–UK Relations". China-US Focus. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  298. ^ "China, Britain to benefit from 'golden era' in ties - Cameron". Reuters. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  299. ^ "Lord 'Golden Era' Cameron returneth". POLITICO. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  300. ^ Hawkins, Amy; correspondent, Amy Hawkins Senior China (15 November 2023). "Concerns as China welcomes David Cameron's return as foreign secretary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  301. ^ "Vladimir Putin and David Cameron find common ground but no action on Syria". The Guardian. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  302. ^ "David Cameron hails talks with Russia over Syria as 'purposeful and useful'". The Daily Telegraph. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  303. ^ "Ukraine crisis: David Cameron attacks Crimea vote 'under barrel of a Kalashnikov'". The Independent. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  304. ^ a b "Blast from the past: David Cameron warns US against Munich-style appeasement of Putin". 7 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  305. ^ Taylor, Matthew (12 August 2006). "Under the Green Oak, an old elite takes root in Tories". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  306. ^ "How far will Michael Gove go?". Financial Times. 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  307. ^ Mosbacher, Michael (June 2013). "The Myth of Cameron's Eton 'Chumocracy'". Standpoint. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  308. ^ "MP tells David Cameron of his frustration at 'incompetence at government's highest levels'". 10 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016.
  309. ^ "Nadine Dorries tells David Cameron to change policies or lose Tory leadership". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  310. ^ "'Rebel reserve' of 55 Conservative MPs 'is being gathered for Cameron leadership challenge'". Conservative Home. 20 January 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  311. ^ "Tory MP Andrew Bridgen drops bid to oust Cameron". BBC News. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  312. ^ a b Douglas, Torin (21 January 2011). "Andy Coulson quits Downing Street communications role". BBC News. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  313. ^ Merrick, Jane; Hanning, James; Chorley, Matt; Brady, Brian (10 July 2011). "The Battle of Wapping, Mk II – Press, Media". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  314. ^ "David Cameron's PR director Andy Coulson paid £140,000". BBC News. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  315. ^ "Prime Minister's 'gross error of judgment' over former editor Andy Coulson". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 6 July 2011.
  316. ^ "'Sorry' David Cameron sees values of hindsight". The Independent. London. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  317. ^ Rose, Gareth (31 May 2012). "Scottish police charge Andy Coulson with Tommy Sheridan trial perjury". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  318. ^ Carrell, Severin; Wintour, Patrick (30 May 2012). "Andy Coulson charged with perjury". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  319. ^ "David Cameron has explaining to do over apology for hiring Andy Coulson". The London News.Net. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  320. ^ a b c Oborne, Peter (27 June 2012). "Lord Ashcroft's Tory Right is stopping the Coalition working". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  321. ^ "Lords reform: Coalition suffers biggest rebellion". BBC News. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  322. ^ Rawnsley, Andrew (5 January 2014). "Lord Ashcroft's big bucket of cold water to douse Tory optimism". The Observer. London. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  323. ^ a b "Lord Ashcroft's Cameron biography bears hallmarks of revenge job". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  324. ^ a b Kirkup, James. "A pig, some drugs and a disappointed billionaire: the life of David Cameron". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  325. ^ "Lord Ashcroft 'not settling scores' with David Cameron book". BBC News. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  326. ^ Brooks-Pollock, Tom. "Piers Gaveston Society: The elite Oxford University club at the centre of claims David Cameron put his genitals in a dead pig". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  327. ^ Khomami, Nadia (21 September 2015). "David Cameron, a pig's head and a secret society at Oxford University – explained". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  328. ^ "David Cameron pig claims: How Twitter reacted to allegations about PM's time at university". The Independent. London. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  329. ^ "PM Says He's 'Too Busy' To Sue Lord Ashcroft". Sky News. 28 September 2015.
  330. ^ Glover, Julian (19 September 2007)."The swing against Cameron". The Guardian (London).
  331. ^ Glover, Julian; Wintour, Patrick (30 June 2007). "Brown effect propels Labour to election-winning lead". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 30 June 2007.
  332. ^ The Party Leaders.[dead link] YouGov. 14 June 2011.
  333. ^ McLellan, Kylie (6 April 2015). "Cameron's approval ratings turn positive ahead of election – poll". Reuters. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  334. ^ "Opinium Research Results / Tables" (PDF). Ourinsight.opinium.co.uk. September 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  335. ^ "YouGov Survey Results" (PDF). D256d2506sfb94s.cloudfront,net. January 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  336. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn more popular than David Cameron for first time, new poll reveals". The Independent. 8 April 2016.
  337. ^ Cowburn, Ashley (12 October 2016). "David Cameron rated third worst Prime Minister since end of World War Two". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  338. ^ Corless, Blathnaid; Johnston, Neil (19 June 2023). "David Cameron admits prioritising flu pandemic was 'mistake'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  339. ^ Simpson, Fiona (12 October 2016). "David Cameron reveals next job after quitting politics". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  340. ^ Knapton, Sarah (25 January 2017). "'Dementia is not inevitable' says David Cameron as he becomes President of Alzheimer's Research UK". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022.
  341. ^ "Summary of business appointments applications – Rt Hon David Cameron".
  342. ^ "David Cameron takes job with US artificial intelligence firm". The Guardian. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  343. ^ "David Cameron Agent, David Cameron Speaker Engagement Appearances, David Cameron Booking Fee for Corporate Events and Endorsements". www.speakerbookingagency.com. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  344. ^ "Cameron: I don't regret calling referendum". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  345. ^ a b "Cameron: Johnson and Gove behaved 'appallingly'". BBC News. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  346. ^ "Fifth ex-PM speaks out against post-Brexit bill". BBC News. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  347. ^ a b Perraudin, Frances (16 May 2019). "David Cameron's book to be published in September". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  348. ^ Hope, Christopher (22 April 2018). "David Cameron's memoirs 'delayed until next year' amid fears former Prime Minister has writer's block". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  349. ^ McGuinness, Alan (17 May 2019). "For The Record: David Cameron's autobiography gets release date". Sky News.
  350. ^ a b c Swinford, Steven. "David Cameron 'told friends he would make $60m from Greensill deal'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  351. ^ Smith, Robert; Pooler, Michael; Storbeck, Olaf (5 March 2021). "The unravelling of Lex Greensill: a mix of bravado and financial alchemy". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  352. ^ "David Cameron earned more than $1m a year as Greensill lobbyist". CityAM. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  353. ^ "Greensill: David Cameron 'made $10m' before company's collapse". BBC News. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  354. ^ "Matt Hancock 'had private drink' with David Cameron and Lex Greensill". BBC News. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  355. ^ "David Cameron fails to respond over Greensill Capital claims". The Guardian. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  356. ^ "Labour seeks probe over Cameron Greensill lobbying". BBC News. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  357. ^ Moon, Louise (18 March 2021). "David Cameron lobbied ex-colleagues for Greensill access to Covid loan scheme". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  358. ^ "Cameron lobbied UK government on behalf of Greensill Capital – report". The Guardian. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  359. ^ "David Cameron personally advocated for collapsed firm Greensill with Bank of England". Channel 4 News. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  360. ^ "David Cameron texted Rishi Sunak to get Covid loans for Greensill, says report". The Guardian. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  361. ^ Syal, Rajeev (6 July 2021). "Greensill given access to Covid loans without detailed checks, watchdog reveals". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  362. ^ "David Cameron faces investigation into possible lobbying law breach". The Guardian. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  363. ^ "Greensill: Government to investigate Cameron's lobbying". BBC News. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  364. ^ "David Cameron lands teaching job at Abu Dhabi University". The Financial Times. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  365. ^ Hymas, Charles (24 May 2023). "David Cameron defends Suella Braverman's Rwanda migration policy". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  366. ^ "Sending migrants to Rwanda 'best available option' to crush people-smuggling gangs, David Cameron says". Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  367. ^ Brown, Thomas (13 November 2023). "Peerages awarded to former UK prime ministers". House of Lords Library. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. The most recent former prime minister to receive a peerage is David Cameron. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed Mr Cameron secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs in 2023. His peerage title is yet to be confirmed. Mr Cameron left the House of Commons in 2016.
  368. ^ "No. 64237". The London Gazette. 22 November 2023. p. 23554.
  369. ^ Smith, Benedict (17 November 2023). "David Cameron to be known as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  370. ^ Walker, Peter (13 November 2023). "Explainer: He's not an MP, so how can David Cameron return to the cabinet?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  371. ^ "Introduction: Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 834. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Lords. 20 November 2023. col. 593.
  372. ^ "Former PM David Cameron becomes Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton". BBC News. 20 November 2023.
  373. ^ Howard, Jacqueline (16 November 2023). "David Cameron makes first official visit to Ukraine". Retrieved 16 November 2023 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  374. ^ "British 'pro-Russian propagandist' awaits ruling on High Court sanctions fight". Independent. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  375. ^ Vasilyeva, Nataliya (23 November 2023). "Cameron: I've seen things I'll never forget at kibbutz targeted by Hamas". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  376. ^ "Israel in diplomatic dispute with Spain and Belgium over Gaza bombardment". Financial Times. 25 November 2023.
  377. ^ "Why the UK and Germany back a sustainable ceasefire: article by the Foreign Secretary and the German Foreign Minister". GOV.UK. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  378. ^ "David Cameron squirms as he's confronted over Israeli 'war crimes'". The National. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  379. ^ "Lord Cameron denies suggesting Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza". The Independent. 14 January 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  380. ^ "UK will consider recognising Palestinian state, says David Cameron". The Guardian. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  381. ^ "Lord Cameron: I do not want us to show the weakness displayed against Putin in 2008, when he invaded Georgia". Accent News. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  382. ^ "Cameron did not like BBC India special he appeared in". Deccan Herald. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  383. ^ "Latest Newzoids - May, Corbyn and Princess Charlotte are joining cast". Belfast Telegraph. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  384. ^ "BBC One - The Cameron Years, Trailer". BBC. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  385. ^ Can Boy Wonder save the Tories?". The Sunday Times (London). 9 October 2005.
  386. ^ "Cameron's eldest son Ivan dies". BBC News. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  387. ^ a b "Camerons announce birth of fourth child". BBC News. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  388. ^ Owen, Paul (22 March 2010). "David Cameron's wife expecting baby". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  389. ^ White, Roland (5 February 2006). "Cameron puts in for spot of paternity leave". The Sunday Times. London. (subscription required)
  390. ^ "Camerons reveal daughter's name". BBC News. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  391. ^ Croft, Adrian (24 August 2010). "UK PM David Cameron's wife gives birth to baby girl". Reuters. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  392. ^ Lloyd, Russell (n.d.). "Welcome to our church". Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  393. ^ "Leaders make state school choices". BBC News. 9 May 2008.
  394. ^ Dewar, Caroline (5 March 2012). "Who's who in the Chipping Norton set". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  395. ^ Tapsfield, James (8 September 2010). "David Cameron's father dies after stroke". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  396. ^ "David Cameron attends father's funeral". The Daily Telegraph. London. 17 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  397. ^ (3 April 2016) The Power Players David Cameron – Ian Cameron The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Retrieved 5 April 2016
  398. ^ Mason, Rowena (8 April 2016). "David Cameron's terrible week ends with calls for resignation over Panama Papers". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  399. ^ Booth, Robert; Watt, Holly; Pegg, David (7 April 2016). "David Cameron admits he profited from father's offshore fund". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  400. ^ Peachey, Kevin; Curwen, Edward (8 April 2016). "What's the deal with offshore funds?". BBC News. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  401. ^ "Downing Street protesters call for Cameron to resign". BBC News. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  402. ^ Griffin, Andrew (9 April 2016). "'Resign Cameron' protests: Thousands to gather at Downing Street to ask Prime Minister to step down". The Independent. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  403. ^ Shackle, Samira; Hegarty, Stephanie; Eaton, George (1 October 2009). "The new ruling class". New Statesman (London). Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  404. ^ "Hypocrisy claim over Cameron bike". BBC News. 28 April 2006. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  405. ^ "David Cameron runs in charity mud race". BBC News. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  406. ^ Smith, Lisa (20 May 2008). "David Cameron not bothered by Euro clash – he's a Villa fan". Birmingham Post. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012.
  407. ^ Ross, Tim (19 July 2013). "David Cameron caught out by Geoffrey Boycott at Lord's". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022.
  408. ^ "David Cameron's 'chillaxing' hobbies revealed in new biography". The Guardian. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  409. ^ "PM tackled on religion at Q&A session". BBC News. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  410. ^ Gammell, Caroline (6 November 2009). "David Cameron: my fears and my faith". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  411. ^ Edgar, James (19 January 2014). "David Cameron reveals family rules at Number 10". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  412. ^ Bingham, John (16 April 2014). "David Cameron puts God back into politics". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2014.

Further reading

Full biography

  • Elliott, Francis; Hanning, James (2012). Cameron: Practically a Conservative. Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-0-00-743642-2.

Books about Cameron as leader

Published works by and about

Political career

Video

News coverage

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Witney
2001–2016
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Conservative Policy Review Coordinator
2004–2005
Vacant
Title next held by
Oliver Letwin
as Conservative Policy Review Chair
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills
2005
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition
2005–2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
2010–2016
Succeeded by
Minister for the Civil Service
2010–2016
First Lord of the Treasury
2010–2016
Preceded by Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
2023–present
Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Conservative Party
2005–2016
Succeeded by
Theresa May
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Chairperson of the Group of 8
2013
Succeeded by