Cameron steps down from frontline politics as he resigns as British shadow foreign secretary

Sunak confirms Home Secretary and Treasury Secretary in his interim shadow cabinet

9 Jul. () –

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who returned to the cabinet in November as Britain’s top diplomat, announced on Monday that he was retiring from the political front line by resigning as British shadow foreign secretary after the Conservative Party went into opposition for the first time in 14 years after losing the general elections.

“It has been a great honour to serve as Foreign Secretary (…). I have told (former Prime Minister and Conservative leader) Rishi Sunak that I would step back. I am delighted that the role has gone to my good friend Andrew Mitchell,” referring to his former number two.

Cameron, who has portrayed himself as a “committed conservative”, has maintained that he will continue “supporting the Party and helping in any way he can while” they “rebuild after the disappointing election result”, as he expressed through his profile on the social network X.

The party has confirmed that Sunak will remain leader of the opposition until he is replaced, while Cameron and Richard Holden, the party’s chairman during the election campaign, have both resigned. The latter has been replaced on an interim basis by Richard Fuller. Some key roles remain unchanged, with James Cleverly and Jeremy Hunt as shadow home and exchequer secretaries, reflecting the portfolios they held in the previous term.

However, there have been changes in other positions following the loss of seats by those who held the portfolios, as shadow ministers have to have a seat in the House of Commons. This is the case of the defence minister, Grant Shapps, who will not be able to serve as a shadow minister after failing to win re-election, so James Cartlidge will be the shadow minister. The same goes for the Justice minister, which was held by Alex Chalk and will be held by Ed Argar.

The reshuffle comes after the Tories were left with just 121 MPs, the lowest number in the party’s history, after losing 251 seats in a landslide victory for Labour. However, it is not known how long these appointments will last, as Sunak confirmed on Friday that he will soon step down until the next Conservative leader has been elected.