Global InformationDavid Cameron information
The Right Honourable The Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton PC | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||
Incumbent | |||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 13 November 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak | ||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Andrew Mitchell (since 2024) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | James Cleverly | ||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 11 May 2010 – 13 July 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Nick Clegg (2010–2015) | ||||||||||||||||||
| First Secretary |
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| Preceded by | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Theresa May | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister |
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| Deputy | William Hague | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michael Howard | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Harriet Harman | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Conservative Party | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 December 2005 – 11 July 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michael Howard | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Theresa May | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | David William Donald Cameron 9 October 1966 Marylebone, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Samantha Sheffield (m. 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Cameron family | ||||||||||||||||||
| Education |
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| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website  | ||||||||||||||||||
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Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
First ministry and term
Second ministry and term
Post-premiership
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David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton, PC (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since 2023. He previously served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016, as Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016, and as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010, while serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. He 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. 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 ongoing effects of the global financial crisis, 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 enforced stricter immigration policies, introduced reforms to education and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. Cameron's administration also privatised Royal Mail and some other state assets, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Internationally, Cameron's government intervened militarily in the First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State. Domestically, his government oversaw the referendum on voting reform 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-only government. To fulfil a manifesto pledge, Cameron introduced a referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union in 2016. He supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. Following the success of the Leave vote, Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election by Theresa May. Post his premiership, Cameron gave up his seat and served as the president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023. During the November 2023 cabinet reshuffle, Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak appointed Cameron foreign secretary and recommended him for a life peerage. Cameron is the first former prime minister to be appointed to a ministerial post since Alec Douglas-Home in 1970. Cameron has been credited for helping to modernise the Conservative Party and for reducing the United Kingdom's inherited national deficit as prime minister. However, he was subject to a level of criticism for the 2015 manifesto commitment to implement the referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU and his vocal support for remain, which ultimately led to his resignation as prime minister. This led to a sustained period of political instability. After leaving office, he was implicated in the Greensill scandal. In historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, academics and journalists have ranked Cameron in the fourth and third quintiles, respectively.