David Cameron’s return is the last roll of the dice by a desperate PM…

… but derision at Rishi Sunak pitching himself as the ‘candidate for change’ before asking a former prime minister for help will be worth it if it lends the Conservatives the semblance of stability ahead of a general election, writes Sean O’Grady

David Cameron re-enters Downing Street (Reuters)

“We Can’t Go On Like This” was the slogan that helped David Cameron into power in the first place. Seems it may have done so again, and dramatically.

Then, before the 2010 election, it was applied to Gordon Brown and his increasingly beleaguered government, though rather unfairly. It is a phrase that may have occurred to Rishi Sunak as he tried and failed to control his turbulent home secretary, Suella Braverman. Having Cameron back, an old face, will give the government a different, if not fresher look.

In foreign affairs, Cameron won’t have much to do with the grittier and more partisan aspects of domestic policy. But he’s obviously a big beast and a famous name and, as a former premier, carries some prestige, albeit tarnished by the disastrous Brexit referendum. Worth a go?

Temperamentally emollient and ideologically centrist, Cameron might be seen as the antidote to Braverman, someone who projects a more moderate image to the voters. In reality, the direction and policies of the government might not change very much, but it will make it look as though the Tories are tilting to the centre.

Cameron’s presence might appeal to moderate voters in the “blue wall” dismayed by Braverman’s ever more erratic antics. Sunak certainly couldn’t go on like he had been and hope to win the next general election. So he’s having a bit of a clearout. Few will miss the likes of Therese Coffey.

Will it work? Cameron can certainly do the job, though on foreign policy terms, his own administrations suffered setbacks – on Syria and Libya and, of course, Europe. At 57, he’s hardly past it – but he can’t have been expecting a recall. He’s written his memoirs, after all. Some years ago there was a rumour that he’d like to make a political comeback as foreign secretary, but it was regarded as a bad joke.

Now it sort of makes sense. It’s not the biggest comeback since Lazarus, but it’s a notable example of reincarnation. Having Cameron as foreign secretary, operating from the Lords and with a senior minister dealing with the Commons, is a perfectly practical proposition, if a slightly old-fashioned one in the democratic age. The last person to hold such a position was Lord Carrington, who resigned the role in 1982 over the failure to prevent the Falklands invasion by Argentina.

Before Carrington, the nearest parallel was the return of Alec Douglas-Home to the cabinet for a second stint as foreign secretary in 1970, having also served as party leader and prime minister in 1963-64.

There’s certainly nothing wrong in any organisation in having people with age and experience as part of a team. Cameron should be a reliable, loyal and wise adviser for Sunak, with no pretensions to stealing his job.

But it’s a bit awkward, admittedly, that Sunak implicitly denounced Cameron’s administration when, in his party conference speech last month, he trashed the past 30 years of “short-termist” governments. That outburst may be quietly forgotten now, also because it failed. Sunak’s attempt to portray himself as the “candidate of change” after 13 years of Conservative rule was met with some scepticism, for sure. Instead, he’s decided to embrace their last relatively successful spell.

The Opposition’s attack line is fairly obvious. To have to turn to Cameron does rather suggest the party is running out of new talent, and going “back to the future” doesn’t suggest that the PM has that much faith in any of his most senior colleagues. Michael Gove, Oliver Dowden and Kemi Badenoch might all have quite fancied David’s new job. (Presumably, too, Gove and Cameron will have to bury the hatchet after Gove deserted him for Boris, Cummings and the Leave campaign in 2016.)

There will be trouble, too. Sacking Braverman and appointing Cameron will cause conniptions in the Right of the party. Suella will become (another) focus for internal dissent, just as Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have been.

But it’s still a price worth paying for Sunak. The one thing his government so desperately lacks is some public sense that it is at least competent and disciplined. Bringing Cameron back is a gamble – a last roll of the dice – but Sunak really couldn’t go on like he had been doing. He needs to inject some optimism into his government. After some very grim years, Sunak is trying to let some sunshine back in on public life.