90-397: [REDACTED] The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government , following the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010, after the general election on 6 May . It was the UK's first coalition government since the Churchill caretaker ministry in 1945. The coalition
180-554: 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". While at Oxford, Cameron was a member of the Bullingdon Club , an exclusive all male student dining society with
270-458: 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. 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
360-492: A '1' grade in the scholarship level exam in economics and politics. The following autumn, he passed the entrance exam for the University of Oxford , and was offered an exhibition at Brasenose College . After leaving Eton in 1984 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
450-432: A 50/50 chance, but as the campaign wore on and the scale of the impending Conservative defeat grew, Cameron prepared himself for defeat. 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%). In the round of selection contests taking place in
540-478: A 78% turnout , to Davis's 64,398. Although Davis had initially been the favourite, it was widely acknowledged that his candidacy was marred by a disappointing conference speech. 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
630-726: A Conservative-only government known as the Second Cameron ministry . Cameron introduced a referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union in 2016. He supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign which lost. Following the success of Vote Leave , Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Theresa May , his Home Secretary. Cameron resigned his seat on 12 September 2016, and maintained
720-486: 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 and former party leader William Hague . 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
810-485: A constituency revised in boundary changes, which was projected to have a Conservative majority. 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". He also said
900-614: A descendant of the Yiddish author Elia Levita . Cameron was educated at two private schools . From the age of seven, he was taught at Heatherdown School in Winkfield , Berkshire. Owing to good grades, he entered its top academic class almost two years early. At the age of 13, he went on to Eton College in Berkshire, following his father and elder brother. His early interest was in art. Six weeks before taking his O levels , he
990-509: 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. During the election campaign, Cameron accepted the offer of writing a regular column for The Guardian ' s online section. 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%),
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#17327719962291080-575: A low political profile. He served as the president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023, and was implicated in the Greensill scandal . Cameron released his memoir, For the Record , in 2019. In 2023 he was appointed Foreign Secretary by Rishi Sunak and became a life peer as Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton. His tenure as Foreign Secretary was dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine ,
1170-564: A majority of 7,973 (16.2%). Upon his election to Parliament, Cameron served as a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee , a prominent appointment for a newly elected MP. He proposed that the Committee launch an inquiry into the law on drugs, and urged the consideration of "radical options". The report recommended a downgrading of ecstasy from Class A to Class B, as well as moves towards
1260-569: A party with a small majority. In some legislative assemblies, sitting at the back of the chamber is not necessarily associated with having a minor role. In Switzerland , senior figures sit in the back rows in order to have a better overview and be closer to the doors for discussions outside the plenary. In Germany , the party leaders sit in the front row, but there are no designated places for other senior figures. The term backbenchers ("Hinterbänkler") therefore refers to largely unknown MPs without much influence, regardless of where they sit. Originally,
1350-567: A policy of ' harm reduction ', which Cameron defended. 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. 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
1440-553: 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
1530-463: A reputation for an outlandish drinking culture associated with boisterous behaviour and damaging property. In his 2019 memoir For the Record , 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
1620-468: A roundtable discussion on the future of broadcasting in 1998, he criticised the effect of overlapping different regulators on the industry. 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
1710-484: 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". Cameron, advised in his strategy by friend Catherine Fall , put
1800-531: A vote on allowing same-sex and unmarried couples to adopt children jointly, against a whip to oppose; his abstention was noted. 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
1890-412: A whole new generation." His speech was well-received; The Daily Telegraph said speaking without notes "showed a sureness and a confidence that is greatly to his credit". 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
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#17327719962291980-456: Is the younger son of Ian Donald Cameron, a stockbroker, and his wife Mary Fleur, a retired Justice of the Peace and daughter of Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet . He is also a descendant of William IV through one of the king's illegitimate children. Cameron's father, Ian, was born at Blairmore House near Huntly , Aberdeenshire, and died near Toulon , France, on 8 September 2010; Blairmore
2070-453: The 1997 general election . 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. However, Cameron decided not to stand. During the by-election, Lamont gave the response " Je ne regrette rien " to
2160-606: The Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement of 11 May 2010, the two parties formed a coalition government. The new Parliament met on 18 May for the swearing-in of Peers in the House of Lords and newly elected and returning Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and the election for the Speakership of the House of Commons. The Queen's Speech on 25 May set out the government's legislative agenda. Of
2250-594: The First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State in Syria. Domestically, his government oversaw the 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum 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
2340-766: 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 via the Home Office hostile environment policy , introduced reforms to education under Michael Gove as Education Secretary and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics . Cameron's administration privatised Royal Mail and some other state assets, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales . Internationally, Cameron oversaw Operation Ellamy in
2430-777: The House of Commons . 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. 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. In October 1985 Cameron began his Bachelor of Arts course in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Brasenose College, Oxford. His tutor, Vernon Bogdanor , has described him as "one of
2520-683: The Israel–Hamas war , and the Gaza humanitarian crisis . After the Conservatives lost the 2024 general election to the Labour Party , Cameron retired from frontline politics. However, he maintains his House of Lords seat. As prime minister, Cameron was credited for helping to modernise the Conservative Party and for reducing the UK's national deficit. However, he was subject to criticism for austerity measures. In historical rankings of prime ministers of
2610-683: 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 . Cameron attended a gathering at Warsaw 's Palladium cinema celebrating the foundation of the alliance. In forming the caucus, which had 54 MEPs drawn from eight of
2700-622: The Privy Council , being formally approved to join on 14 December 2005, and sworn of the council on 8 March 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". On the left, the New Statesman unfavourably likened his "new style of politics" to Tony Blair's early leadership years. Cameron
2790-651: The United States Congress . While legislative branches in presidential systems do not share the firm front bench/back bench dichotomy of the Westminster system, the term has been used to denote junior legislators or legislators who are not part of party leadership within a legislative body. The most important backbench role is that of a constituency representative; constituents rely heavily on their MPs to represent them in parliament and make sure their concerns are heard, whether or not they voted for
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2880-528: 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), on the grounds that they are dominated by European federalists and supporters of the Lisbon treaty . EPP leader Wilfried Martens , former prime minister of Belgium , stated: "Cameron's campaign has been to take his party back to
2970-542: The 57 Liberal Democrat MPs, only two refused to support the Conservative Coalition agreement, with former leader Charles Kennedy and Manchester Withington MP John Leech both rebelling. The Liberal Democrats had five Cabinet members, including Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister – though after the Cabinet and ministerial reshuffle , David Laws , who was a Minister of State , was allowed to attend
3060-429: The Cabinet but was not a full member. If a Liberal Democrat minister resigned or was removed from office, another member of the same party would have had to be appointed to the Cabinet. Each cabinet committee had a chair from one party and a deputy chair from the other; there was also a cabinet committee specifically overseeing the operation of the coalition. Both parties' ministers shared collective responsibility for
3150-553: 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. Daniel Finkelstein has said of the period leading up to Cameron's election as leader of
3240-449: The Conservative Party's mission into a "PR agenda". 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. The Daily Telegraph correspondent and blogger Gerald Warner was particularly scathing about Cameron's leadership, saying that it alienated traditionalist conservative elements from
3330-565: The Conservative Party. Before he became Conservative leader, Cameron was reportedly known to friends and family as "Dave", though his preference is "David" in public. 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 , though Cameron asserted
3420-446: 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". Cameron's relationship with Osborne is regarded as particularly close; Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi suggested the closeness of Osborne's relationship with Cameron meant
3510-570: The MP representing them. Constituents may email and meet their MPs, raising the issues and concerns they want the government to hear. Backbenchers have an important opportunity to raise their constituents concerns directly to the prime minister in Prime Minister's Questions . Backbenchers also have an unofficial agenda-setting power, with Opposition Day debates, private member's bills , and Prime Minister's Questions available to place items on
3600-555: 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." 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
3690-596: The Treasury Danny Alexander , which decided "all major matters of policy" and resolved disputes between the two parties. While the government's front benchers sat together in the House of Commons and the two parties acted as a bloc during PMQs, the Liberal Democrat and Conservative backbenchers sat apart and each had their own whips , and the two parties competed in by-elections . On 4 September 2012, Cameron reshuffled his cabinet for
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3780-708: The United Kingdom , academics and journalists have ranked him in the fourth and third quintiles. Cameron was the first former prime minister to be appointed to a ministerial post since Alec Douglas-Home in 1970, and the first former prime minister to be raised to the peerage since Margaret Thatcher . David William Donald Cameron was born on 9 October 1966 at the London Clinic in Marylebone , London, and raised at Peasemore in Berkshire. He has two sisters and an elder brother, Alexander Cameron . Cameron
3870-576: The ablest" students he has taught, with "moderate and sensible Conservative" political views . Guy Spier , who shared tutorials with Cameron, 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." When commenting in 2006 on his former pupil's ideas about
3960-455: 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 ." Cameron determinedly attempted to increase his public visibility, offering quotations on matters of public controversy. He opposed
4050-721: The best economic team." The reshuffle also saw eight other changes made. 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. 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
4140-477: The broadcast had become his daughter's "favourite video". During the leadership election, allegations were made that Cameron had used cannabis and cocaine recreationally before becoming an MP. 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. During his 2005 Conservative leadership campaign, he addressed
4230-589: 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." Similarly, Cameron's initial " A-List " of prospective parliamentary candidates was attacked by members of his party, and the policy was discontinued in favour of gender -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
4320-419: The economic crisis. 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. By May 1993, the Conservatives' average poll rating dropped below 30%, where they would remain until
4410-492: The end of 2010 coalition government it had undergone 300 debates, ranging from prisoner voting rights to the Hillsborough disaster . Furthermore, they have influence as discussed above when they are a member of a committee, these committees provide a perfect opportunity for backbenchers to have their voices heard in the legislative process. It usually proves difficult for backbenchers to be involved and have direct input in
4500-407: The fact that they sit physically behind the frontbench in the House of Commons . A backbencher may be a new parliamentary member yet to receive a high office, a senior figure dropped from government, someone who for whatever reason is not chosen to sit in the government or an opposition spokesperson (such as a shadow cabinet if one exists), or someone who prefers to be a background influence, not in
4590-476: The first time. He reshuffled his cabinet for the second time on 14 July 2014. 2014–2015 David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. After his premiership , he served as Foreign Secretary in Rishi Sunak ’s government from 2023 to 2024. Cameron
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#17327719962294680-418: The future." 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 him 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,
4770-598: The government's positions, although the coalition agreement detailed several issues on which the parties agreed to differ; the Liberal Democrats abstained from voting in such cases. Clegg, as Deputy Prime Minister, took Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) when David Cameron was unavailable. Key decisions were made by a core group called the "Quad", made up of Cameron, Clegg, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Chief Secretary to
4860-483: The house of Alan Duncan in Gayfere Street , Westminster , which had been Major's campaign headquarters during his bid for the Conservative leadership. 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. The strain of getting up at 04:45 every day
4950-502: The importance of the front rows for the leaders had also to do with the fact that acoustics were often unsatisfactory before microphones were introduced. Prominent or iconic political figures can also play a backbench role, as the case of Aung San Suu Kyi illustrates: the leader of Myanmar 's opposition to military rule was first elected MP in 2012 but proved only marginally involved in legislative business. The term "backbencher" has also been adopted outside parliamentary systems, such as
5040-515: 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." In July 1994 Cameron left his role as Special Adviser to work as the Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications . Carlton, which had won the ITV franchise for London weekdays in 1991,
5130-502: The loans of maths and science graduates obtaining first or 2.1 degrees from "good" universities. Backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems , a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition , being instead simply a member of the " rank and file ". The term dates from 1855. The term derives from
5220-421: 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
5310-603: The opposition Shadow Cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard , and succeeded Howard in 2005 . Following the 2010 general election , negotiations led to Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats . His premiership was marked by the effects of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession , which his government sought to address through austerity measures . His administration passed
5400-582: The parliamentary agenda which are awkward for the government. The Wright Committee reforms introduced in the UK provided backbenchers with much more power in committees, giving Parliament greater control of its agenda, and increasing backbench membership in committees vastly. Additionally, the Commons Backbench Business Committee was created in 2010 with cross-party support. It debates matters unlikely to be debated in government time, with each decision voted upon formally. By
5490-691: The payment of compensation to Gurbux Singh, who had resigned as head of the Commission for Racial Equality after a confrontation with the police; and commented that the Home Affairs Select Committee had taken a long time to discuss whether the phrase "black market" should be used. Cameron 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
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#17327719962295580-539: The payroll as a consultant. 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. In January 1996, when two shortlisted contenders dropped out, Cameron was interviewed and subsequently selected for Stafford ,
5670-607: The phrase "balanced diet", and that Lewis had written thanking Cameron for a valuable contribution. 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. A senior Home Office civil servant noted
5760-667: 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." 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. In June 2008 Davis announced his intention to resign as an MP , and
5850-540: The regime. He was criticised by Labour MP Peter Hain , himself an anti-apartheid campaigner. 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". He suggested the adoption of more stringent criteria for entry to teaching, and offered repayment of
5940-487: The right of the party, Norman Tebbit , a 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". 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
6030-673: 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, a loss ascribed by Samantha Cameron to his lack of spontaneity when speaking. Cameron was selected as PPC for Witney in Oxfordshire in April 2000. This had been
6120-432: The single-party, second Cameron ministry following the 2015 election . The previous Parliament had been dissolved on 12 April 2010 in advance of the general election on 6 May . The general election resulted in a hung parliament , no single party having an overall majority in the House of Commons , for the first time in 36 years . The Conservatives emerged having the most seats, but 20 short of an overall majority. In
6210-408: 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. 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
6300-419: The spotlight. In most parliamentary systems, individual backbenchers have little power to affect government policy. However, they play a greater role in the work of the legislature itself; for example, sitting on parliamentary committees , where legislation is considered and parliamentary work is done in more detail than there is time for on the floor of the House. In addition, since backbenchers generally form
6390-476: The team across Smith Square to jeer at Transport House , the former Labour headquarters. Cameron was rewarded with a promotion to Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer , Norman Lamont . 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, he had difficulty trying to arrange to brief
6480-649: The then twice-weekly sessions of Prime Minister's Questions . One newspaper gave Cameron the credit for "sharper ... Despatch box performances" by Major, 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 . He became head of the political section of the Conservative Research Department, and in August 1991
6570-527: 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." Cameron's period in the Bullingdon Club was examined in a 2009 Channel 4 docu-drama, When Boris Met Dave ,
6660-520: 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. He graduated in 1988 with a first-class honours BA degree (later promoted to an MA by seniority). After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department between September 1988 and 1993. His first brief
6750-619: The two effectively shared power during Cameron's time as prime minister. From February 2002 to August 2005, he was a non-executive director of Urbium PLC, operator of the Tiger Tiger bar chain. 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
6840-415: The vast majority of government MPs – and even their totality in dualistic parliamentary systems, where Ministers cannot serve as MPs simultaneously, collectively they can sometimes exercise considerable power, especially in cases where the policies of the government are unpopular or when a governing party or coalition is internally split. Government backbenchers carry considerable influence when they are in
6930-590: Was Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He was Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. Cameron 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 Eton College and Brasenose College, Oxford . After becoming an MP in 2001, he served in
7020-463: 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 . In 1991 Cameron was seconded to Downing Street to work on briefing John Major for
7110-407: Was a break with official Conservative policy, but about 200 other candidates were making similar declarations. 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
7200-478: 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. He left Carlton in 1997 to run for Parliament, 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
7290-468: 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. 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. On
7380-590: Was built by Cameron's great-great-grandfather, Alexander Geddes, who had made a fortune in the grain trade in Chicago, Illinois, before returning to Scotland in the 1880s. Blairmore was sold soon after Ian's birth. 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." He has also referenced the German Jewish ancestry of one of his great-grandfathers, Arthur Levita,
7470-469: Was caught smoking cannabis . 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). 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
7560-534: Was commented that he was still "very much in favour" and it was later reported that many at the Treasury would have preferred Cameron to carry on. At the beginning of September 1993, he applied to go on Conservative Central Office's list of prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs). Cameron was much more socially liberal than Howard but enjoyed working for him. According to Derek Lewis , then Director-General of Her Majesty's Prison Service , Cameron showed him
7650-481: 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. 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
7740-602: 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. A reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet was undertaken in January 2009, with the chief change being the appointment of former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke as Shadow Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Secretary. Cameron stated that "With Ken Clarke's arrival, we now have
7830-399: Was led by Cameron as Prime Minister with Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and composed of members of both Cameron's centre-right Conservative Party and Clegg's centrist Liberal Democrats . The Cabinet was made up of sixteen Conservatives and five Liberal Democrats, with eight other Conservatives and one other Liberal Democrat attending cabinet but not members. The coalition was succeeded by
7920-466: Was not a member of Parliament he could not have been. 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. After Lamont was sacked, Cameron remained at the Treasury for less than a month before being specifically recruited by Home Secretary Michael Howard . It
8010-438: Was reported to have led Cameron to decide to leave politics in favour of journalism. 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
8100-412: Was tipped to follow Judith Chaplin as political secretary to the prime minister. Cameron lost to Jonathan Hill , who was appointed in March 1992. Instead, he was given the responsibility for briefing Major for his press conferences during the 1992 general election . 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
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