Cameron can stop party turning into ‘Reform-lite’, say Tory MPs
David Cameron should keep a senior position in the Conservative Party even if it loses the next election to stop it lurching further to the right, MPs have said.
The Foreign Secretary is an ideal figure to help unite the party’s warring factions and stop it turning into “Reform-lite”, Tories from across the party’s political spectrum believe. Lord Cameron, who was the longest serving Tory prime minister since Margaret Thatcher, would also bring “corporate memory” of being in opposition in government.
None of the MPs suggested Lord Cameron should return to lead the party. But they indicated that he could serve in the Shadow Cabinet or in an informal but senior advisory role from the House of Lords.
One ex-Cabinet minister also called for Lord Cameron’s former chancellor George Osborne to return, suggesting that the “elder statesmen” could provide guidance to less experienced shadow ministers.
Another former minister said the Foreign Secretary could help to “ensure we don’t become Reform-lite”, and added that he had been “unsurprisingly impressive” since his return to Government in November.
Another Tory source said: “Former leaders and elder statesmen should be leant upon by the new generations… their advice can be invaluable and genuine.
“I think whoever the leader is should lean on him for advice, especially being – correct me if I’m wrong – the only Tory leader to lead us from opposition to Downing Street still alive.”
But the idea was not welcomed by everyone in the party.
A source in the arch-Brexiteer European Research Group said: “‘Why should I do the hard shit’ was his view [standing down after the referendum] in 2016 and it’s not clear anything has changed.
“In any event Cameron’s appeal as leader of the opposition was grossly exaggerated – he failed to win in 2010 and only won in 2015 on a promise of an EU referendum he didn’t believe in.”
Lord Cameron has not ruled out remaining on the frontline in the wake of an election defeat, although he has said he would not stand as an MP nor seek to be Tory leader.