David Cameron takes his place in House of Lords after shock UK comeback

LONDON — David Cameron, Britain’s comeback kid former prime minister, took his seat in the unelected House of Lords Monday after indulging in the pomp and ceremony that greets new joiners.

Cameron, kitted out in a red robe traditionally made of ermine fur, was introduced as a “right, trusty and well beloved counsellor,” and swore an oath of allegiance to the royal family as he formally became Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton. It caps a political comeback few in Westminster saw coming.

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Speaking in the upper chamber Monday afternoon, Cameron said: “I David, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, do swear by almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance, to his majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.”

The ex-Tory leader returned to frontline politics for the first time in seven years last week, in a dramatic next act that saw him take on the role of Rishi Sunak’s foreign secretary.

Because he is no longer an elected member of parliament, Cameron — who quit as prime minister and stood down as an MP after losing the Brexit referendum in 2016 — was handed a seat in the House of Lords by Sunak, in keeping with the custom that ministers should be drawn from the legislature.

Cameron’s appointment marks the first time since the 1970s that a former British prime minister has served in a successor’s Cabinet.

His place in the Lords has raised some eyebrows in Westminster, with MPs in the elected House of Commons arguing it will allow him to duck scrutiny on key foreign policy issues. Instead, Cameron’s junior minister Andrew Mitchell will field questions for the department in the lower chamber.