There has been a lot of ‘news’ in Westminster this week. A Home Secretary sacked, Rwanda appeal rejected, inflation targets met.
But perhaps the most surprising news of all is the return of former Prime Minister David Cameron as Foreign Secretary. A rare example of a secret well-kept in Westminster.
Cameron’s return has received mixed reviews from the public.
Ipsos polling this week showed 35% of Britons believing his appointment was a good decision but 46% said it was the wrong decision.
Supporters of the appointment will argue it brings experience to UK foreign policy at a crucial time but Cameron’s return brings political risk too. Labour will want to go into the next General Election talking about “a decade and a half of things getting worse under the Conservatives”.
Bringing David Cameron back to the heart of government will make it more difficult for Rishi Sunak to distance himself from what has gone before.
When the dust settles on events this week, it is this point that should concern the Conservatives. Cameron’s appointment invokes the legacy of austerity at a time when concern about public services is sky high.
Our recent Ipsos Understanding Society publication delves into some of the challenges facing public services in detail but our data today makes the level of public concern clear. 78% think the quality of public services has got worse in the past five years. Three in four (75%) disagree that Conservatives policies will improve the state of public services in the long term.
David Cameron’s presence in frontline politics will make it easier for Labour to make his government’s legacy a factor at the next election. Our polling shows that 53% of Britons think David Cameron’s government did a bad job improving Britain’s public services and just 12% say it did a good job.
Labour will want to argue the current state of Britain’s public services is a theme of successive Conservative governments that necessitates change, rather than a shorter term challenge a re-elected Sunak administration can fix. His appointment makes that argument easier to make.
Of course, when all is said and done, the return of David Cameron will not decide the next General Election, Who the Foreign Secretary is rarely does – if it ever has. Voters will make a judgement on which party – and which leaders – are best up to the task of delivering on the public priorities for the future. Famously David Cameron once had his ‘long-term economic plan’. Next week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will try to convince the voters that this government can offer something similar – for the economy and public services – that can turn the Conservative Party’s fortunes around.
