George Osborne hails 'return of the king' as chum David Cameron makes comeback
George Osborne accused Rishi Sunak of a “handbrake turn” tonight after the Prime Minister appointed David Cameron Foreign Secretary.
Mr Osborne hailed the “return of the king” as the PM turned to the former Tory leader in a last-ditch gamble to avoid defeat at next year’s general election.
He claimed: “I had an inkling that David might be asked to rejoin the Government but I had no idea that Rishi Sunak would go ahead with the reshuffle.” Mr Cameron was summoned to No10 this morning where he agreed to come out of retirement and become Britain’s top diplomat. Former Chancellor Mr Osborne - the new Foreign Secretary’s best pal - hailed Mr Cameron’s political resurrection and took a swipe at Mr Sunak for previously blasting his legacy. The current PM used last month’s Conservative Party conference to present himself as an agent of “change” after 30 years of political failure.
Gloating Mr Osborne told his Political Currency podcast: “We analysed this decision at the party conference by the Prime Minister to say that he was the change candidate, that he was junking 30 years of failed political consensus; I think it’s the conference speech that’s been junked instead. It never really worked and in the weeks since the party conference there’s been no evidence either in the King’s Speech we’ve just had or, I suspect, in the Autumn Statement to come, that he was a radical change from everything that’s come before.
“Instead, I think he’s done the sensible thing and played to his strengths which is he is the steady, sober Prime Minister who works hard for the country and he’s assembling a team of all the talents, including the former Prime Minister. It’s a coup to get a former Prime Minister - not least David Cameron, one of the better former prime ministers, to come out of essentially, political retirement back to the frontbench. It’s quite a handbrake turn from the party conference speech.”
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The former Chancellor described the appointment as “a big signal” Mr Sunak “is moving to recapture the centre ground”. Mr Osborne denied he too was poised for a shock return to the political frontline, six-and-a-half years after quitting the Commons. “I certainly haven’t had the call and I’m not waiting by my phone,” he told podcast host Ed Balls, the former Shadow Chancellor.
Mr Osborne admitted drafting in the ex-PM was a gamble, but he insisted: “Appointing David Cameron speaks to political imagination, speaks to a Prime Minister who is prepared to throw the dice to win and also has the political courage to bring back a former Prime Minister.”
He described his mate as a “patriot” who “feels, in this job, at a particularly difficult time for the world, he can make a difference”. “There is a strong element of public service in David, that has always been part of his DNA,” he added. “I don’t think he’s expecting to just sort of drift around above everything as the elder statesman. He knows he’s rolling up the sleeves to get back involved, but in the foreign policy brief where I think you can be more cross-party, I think he will be a less partisan politician than he was.”
He said: “David really did not need to do this, he’s doing it because above all he thinks he can make a difference to Britain’s foreign policy.” The ex-Chancellor revealed Mr Cameron had been “very pleased” when Mr Sunak became PM because he was seen as of the “Cameroon” mould. “He was our kind of politician and he’s re-established that link in spades by appointing the chief ‘Cameroon’, David Cameron,” said Mr Osborne.
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