David Cameron: How Has He Gone Down in History?

Keir Starmer entered 10 Downing Street on Friday, 5th July 2024, all that was left were the echoes etched into the walls of the fourteen years marking the fall of the Conservative leadership. From Cameron to Sunak, there was a national consensus that was one of absolute Tory failure. Brexit, COVID-19 scandals, the Cost-of-Living Crisis. Cameron was the man who started this. He made bold and unprecedented decisions that shaped the economic, social, and political history of the United Kingdom. Many argue his legacy he caused Brexit. However, is it purely a reactionary opinion of the public, from unique and unprecedented circumstances. 

Will history be kind to him? 

Dave, you ruined it

After thirteen years of New Labour ended in 2010, David Cameron entered with a One Nation Conservatism and the coalition with the Liberal Democrats, describing himself as a ‘modern compassionate conservative’1. His goals were to ‘detoxify’2 the Conservative image (ironic given what came after) and bring the party into the 21st Century. 

With the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis still looming, Cameron turned, to an extent, away from the Thatcherism approaches of the previous Tory leaders. Although he did announce a £81 billion cuts in government spending in September 2010 to offer recovery from the financial crisis. This caused implications for local authorities spending 23% less per person between 2010-15. He vowed to bring ‘strong families, improved education system and a welfare state that helps people into work’3, and fundamentally a more united and well-knit society. In the 2010-15 coalition, the Equality Act 2010 and the Gay Marriage Act 2013, showing his willingness to stem away from the traditional Conservative values and place the party in the 21st Century. The Justice Secretary under Cameron, Kenneth Clarke, tried to reverse years of tough policies on law and order. Most significantly, Cameron signed a historic deal to allow for a Scottish Independence Referendum in 2012, demonstrating his willingness to progress the country at the will of the people. In 2014, Scotland voted 55.30% to 44.70% to remain. The coalition years seamed steady, but going into the 2015 General Election came a problem. As the Liberal Democrats opinions slumped (also low as 7% in the opinion polls4), the UK Independence Party (UKIP) assumed the third party of the UK. 

UKIP (now Reform UK) promised a referendum on UK membership in the European Union, swaying conservative votes. So, in 2013, Cameron promised a referendum to retain these voters. An expected approach, given the major two parties often swayed to win over votes, but still purely reactionary. Cameron himself led the campaign against Brexit, stating it would lead to ‘economic self-harm’5. The referendum was to hold onto power, and as a result, Cameron won a 10-seat majority. The referendum was called for 23rd June 2016. The British public voted 51.89% to 48.11% for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. 

 Subsequently, Cameron resigned the next day.  

England's darkest day

Cameron’s time as Prime Minister, despite progressive attitudes, led to catastrophic and large-scale failures. He could see the complications with Brexit and Scottish Independence, but he relied on the will of the British people. He was able to win them over on one occasion but lost in the other, leading to his demise. Some see the Brexit vote as an anti-establishment button pressed by the public, fed up with UK politics. The leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage, said the British public stuck ‘two fingers up’ at British politicians and politics. However, it is relatively harsh to simply blame Cameron for the consequences of Brexit. He clearly had a drive to involve the will of the people in British politics. Cameron was never the one to push Brexit or praise the supposed positives some saw in it, he just wanted to act on behalf of his people. Moreover, he still gains much respect in UK politics, specifically from the Scottish and more liberal Conservative members. In a full circle moment, he was appointed as Foreign Secretary in Rishi Sunak’s last cabinet after becoming a Lord in 2023.  Although it could be argued that it was a last-ditch effort from the Conservative Party to swing voters before what looked like becoming a humiliating defeat to Keir Starmer’s Labour. Therefore, revealing that he might have been the only light in a dark period for the Tory party. This appointment demonstrates that despite the failures, he is now perceived from a much more friendly lens, then when he left. 

Overall, within reason, Cameron’s time in 10 Downing Street is not quite as poor as it once may have seen to be. In retrospect, Cameron should not be held responsible for the problems the United Kingdom now faces because of Brexit. He was able to pull the Conservative Party into the 21st century through more liberal views and could have left a foundation for any future Prime Minister, if events had unfolded differently. It almost feels like people’s views of him have been tampered by what came after, specifically May and Johnson in how they followed through on Brexit. Therefore, it is unjust to group him with some of the leaders that followed him. So, when looking back now, history will reflect him kinder than when he left because, simply, he was clearly placed into a unique and unprecedented circumstances in which many would have done the same as him.