Where are our former prime ministers now?
Theresa May will next week vacate Downing Street, becoming the fifth living former British prime minister. While the departing Conservative leader will for the time stay on as an MP, history suggests that may not be for long.
Her predecessors David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and John Major had all stepped down by the next general election after they left No 10. Here we take a look at what followed.
David Cameron (prime minister 2010-2016)
The man many people blame for Brexit has, perhaps wisely, largely kept a low profile since resigning, after calling the referendum and presiding over a losing campaign to keep the UK in the European Union. That is likely to change in September when his memoirs – written in a £25,000 designer shed installed in his Cotswolds garden – are published just in time for Britain’s scheduled exit from Europe in October.
In a rare interview earlier this year, Mr Cameron insisted he did not regret calling the referendum and told the BBC he hoped – in vain, as it turned out – MPs would “come together” to support Ms May’s withdrawal agreement. Mr Cameron has knocked back suggestions he is hankering for a return to frontline politics, but he has not ruled out a role in public service. He remains relatively young at 52 and has been described by one friend as “bored shitless” by life after Westminster.
Gordon Brown (2007-2010)
After being forced out of No 10 following Labour’s defeat in the 2010 election, Mr Brown remained in the Commons for another five years as MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He proved to be a pivotal figure in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, with his intervention and promise of further devolution to Holyrood seen as influential in securing a No vote.
But his attempt to repeat the trick with the struggling Remain campaign ahead of the EU vote two years later proved unsuccessful. Mr Brown has remained vocal on both the UK union and Brexit. This week he announced plans for a think tank to make a “positive, patriotic and progressive case for the union”, which he warned would be at renewed risk under Boris Johnson’s premiership.
Tony Blair (1997-2007)
The former Labour leader promptly stepped away from Westminster entirely after standing down as prime minister. He was appointed special envoy to the Middle East on the day he handed the keys to No 10 to Mr Brown, and remained in that role until 2015. Mr Blair has also enjoyed lucrative work in lobbying, consultancy and lecturing since quitting politics, and reportedly made millions advising foreign governments and the investment bank JP Morgan.
The UK’s vote to leave the EU has, however, lured him back into the political conversation. He has been an outspoken critic of Brexit and backed calls for a second referendum on the final withdrawal deal.
John Major (1990-1997)
The former Tory has kept a relatively low profile since departing No 10, focusing on his business interests, charity work and writing. As well as his memoirs, he has authored books about cricket and his father’s life as a music hall artist. But, as with Mr Blair, Brexit seems to have reignited a political fire in Mr Major. This month, in an extraordinary intervention, he vowed to take Boris Johnson to court if he attempted to suspend parliament to take the UK out of the EU.