Cameron return aims to help win over moderates – Times of India

LONDON: Few expected David Cameron’s return to government, but his appointment is one that British PM Rishi Sunak hopes will signal to wavering supporters that the Conservatives are not lurching to the right to win an election expected next year. As well as firing his interior minister Suella Braverman, Sunak has used a wider reshuffle to bring back the prime minister who campaigned to remain in the EU in a referendum on membership he called in 2016.

It’s a risky strategy – while welcomed by centrist lawmakers, the party’s right senses the end of their increased dominance, built during the wars over EU membership.
The decision to fire Braverman removes from the cabinet one of the most prominent supporters of leaving the EU and means even more of Sunak’s top ministers supported remaining in the bloc in 2016. Out of the 29 cabinet roles, at least 16 backed remaining in the EU, while 10 supported leaving. Sunak backed Brexit.
Since he became Britain’s third prime minister in as many months, Sunak has tried to keep all wings of the party happy – reappointing Braverman, a favourite on the right, to her interior minister role just a week after she was fired in the final days of Liz Truss’s brief premiership.
He has also tried to portray himself as a tough decision-maker and agent of change, ready to take on “establishment attitudes” on the environment and crime despite the Conservatives having been in power for more than a decade.
Sunak’s party still languishes around 20 points behind the Labour Party before the election. He has resisted the right’s calls to cut taxes, and his moves could mean Sunak creates a hostile and vocal lobby sitting behind him in parliament.
Several of them believe the party membership, which did not elect Sunak as leader, want traditional Conservative policies and felt Braverman was on-message with her tough approach to tackling illegal immigration and crime.
But centrists believe Cameron’s appointment is inspired, as he not only brings a wealth of experience but is also seen as a moderate who can reassure traditional supporters in affluent southern England.