David Cameron

David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK since 1945 and resigned after a referendum supported the country's leaving the European Union. After his premiership, he served as Foreign Secretary in the government of prime minister Rishi Sunak from 2023 to 2024. Cameron was Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016 and served as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016, and has been a member of the House of Lords since November 2023. Cameron identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies. Born in London to an upper-middle-class family, Cameron was educated at Eton College and Brasenose College, Oxford. After becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the opposition Shadow Cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard, and succeeded Howard in 2005. Following the 2010 general election, negotiations led to Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. His premiership was marked by the effects of the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession, which his government sought to address through austerity measures. His administration passed the Health and Social Care Act and the Welfare Reform Act, which introduced large-scale changes to healthcare and welfare. It also attempted to enforce stricter immigration policies via the Home Office hostile environment policy, introduced reforms to education, and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. Cameron's administration privatised Royal Mail and some other state assets, implemented the Equality Act, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Internationally, Cameron oversaw Operation Ellamy in the First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State in Syria. Constitutionally, his government oversaw the 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum and Scottish independence referendum, both of which confirmed Cameron's favoured outcome. When the Conservatives secured an unexpected majority in the 2015 general election, he remained as prime minister, this time leading a Conservative majority government, Cameron introduced the Brexit referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union in 2016. He supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign which lost. Following the success of Vote Leave, Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Theresa May, his home secretary. Cameron resigned his seat on 12 September 2016, and maintained a low political profile. He has served as the president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023, and returned in 2025; and was implicated in the Greensill scandal. Cameron released his memoir, For the Record, in 2019. In 2023 he was appointed foreign secretary by Rishi Sunak and became a life peer as Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton. After the Conservatives lost the 2024 general election to the Labour Party, Cameron retired as foreign secretary. However, he maintains his House of Lords seat. Cameron was credited for helping to modernise the Conservative Party, and for reducing the UK's national deficit. However, he was subject to criticism for austerity measures, as well as his decision to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU, which led to political instability in the UK during the late 2010s. In historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, academics and journalists have ranked him in the fourth and third quintiles.

Infobox

2004

Local Government

2005

Education and Skills

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Deputy

William Hague

First Secretary

mw- William HagueGeorge Osborne

Preceded by

Shaun Woodward

Succeeded by

Robert Courts

Prime Minister

Tony BlairGordon Brown

Senior political offices

Senior political offices Leader of the OppositionIn office6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010MonarchElizabeth IIPrime MinisterTony BlairGordon BrownDeputyWilliam HaguePreceded byMichael HowardSucceeded byHarriet HarmanLeader of the Conservative PartyIn office6 December 2005 – 11 July 2016Preceded byMichael HowardSucceeded byTheresa May

Shadow portfolios

Shadow 2003Privy Council Office2004Local Government2004–2005Head of Policy Coordination2005Education and Skills

mw- 2003

Privy Council Office

2004–2005

Head of Policy Coordination

Born

David William Donald Cameron (1966-10-09) 9 October 1966 (age 59)Marylebone, London, England

Political party

Conservative

Spouse

mw- Samantha Sheffield (m. 1996)

Children

Relatives

Cameron family

Education

Eton CollegeBrasenose College, Oxford (MA)

Party

Conservative