Former British leader David Cameron was named the country’s new foreign secretary on Monday, in a surprise appointment made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as he reshuffled his top team.
Cameron, who was Britain’s leader from 2010 to 2016 before quitting after losing the Brexit referendum, replaces James Cleverly, in an unexpected move.
Cameron said he hoped his experience as prime minister would help him deal with current international challenges, in his first comments after the announcement of his new role.
His appointment came as a surprise to seasoned politics-watchers. It is rare for a non-lawmaker to take a senior government post, and it has been decades since a former prime minister held a Cabinet job.
The government said Cameron, seen walking into Downing Street as Sunak began his reshuffling, will be appointed to parliament’s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords.
Sunak also sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman after she criticised the police’s handling of a pro-Palestinian march, with James Cleverly named the new Home Secretary.
Under fire from opposition lawmakers and members of his own governing Conservative Party to eject Braverman, Sunak moved against her, asking her “to leave government” which she had accepted, a source said.
Braverman had defied Sunak’s authority over the handling of a pro-Palestinian march.
She published an article in a newspaper on Thursday accusing the police of adopting “double standards” in its treatment of protests, an argument opposition Labour said inflamed tensions at the pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday.
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Protesters on both sides of Israel-Hamas conflict flood streets around the world
Protesters on both sides of Israel-Hamas conflict flood streets around the world
The article was not cleared by Downing Street, the BBC said, and it emerged that Braverman had defied a request to tone her words down.
Sunak came under pressure to punish her for criticising the Metropolitan Police, hours after he had appeared to resolve disputes with the force’s commissioner about the pro-Palestinian protest overlapping with annual events to commemorate Britain’s war dead.
More than 140 people were arrested on Saturday after far-right counter protesters skirmished with police officers, who tried to keep them away from the 300,000 pro-Palestinian marchers.
Braverman was blamed for drawing out far-right groups that clashed with officers.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg, Associated Press