David Cameron is BACK in Cabinet: Shock return for ex-PM as Rishi Sunak takes biggest gamble of his political life and makes predecessor Foreign Secretary after sacking Suella Braverman in extraordinary reshuffle ‘trolling’ the Tory right

• Rishi Sunak has kicked off a huge reshuffle designed to restore his authority 

David Cameron made a shock comeback today as Rishi Sunak sacked Suella Braverman in a dramatic reshuffle.

The PM moved to oust Ms Braverman as he tries to restore his authority with potentially less than a year to a general election. 

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, a close ally of Mr Sunak with less trenchant views on the European Convention on Human Rights, is taking over in the Home Office. 

In a decision that sent an earthquake through Westminster, Mr Cameron has been given a peerage and is filling Mr Cleverly’s old role. He is the first member of the Upper House to hold the role since Lord Carrington in the 1980s.

Just weeks ago Mr Cameron condemned Mr Sunak’s decision to downgrade the HS2 rail project. He is deeply distrusted by the Tory right after heading the Remain campaign before quitting in 2016, and also fostered closer relations with China as premier. 

In a statement, the now Lord Cameron said: ‘We are facing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East. 

‘At this time of profound global change, it has rarely been more important for this country to stand by our allies, strengthen our partnerships and make sure our voice is heard. 

‘While I have been out of front-line politics for the last seven years, I hope that my experience – as Conservative Leader for eleven years and Prime Minister for six – will assist me in helping the Prime Minister to meet these vital challenges.’ 

The sacking of Ms Braverman comes after an extraordinary week of rowing over handling of pro-Palestinian protests in London on Armistice Day. 

She drew the fury of No10 by lashing out at ‘hate marches’ and then penning an article accusing the police of bias without getting it cleared.

Critics have blamed her for inflaming violence with far-right counter-protesters taking to the streets – although the Tories are badly split with supporters saying the grim scenes in the capital proved her right.

The stunning developments were greeted with extreme sarcasm by one former minister in the right-wing ERG bloc. ‘We’re ecstatic. All we need is for Tobias Ellwood to be Defence Secretary and our joy will be complete,’ they said. 

A Tory aide said Mr Sunak was engaged in ‘top trolling of the right’.  

A Downing Street source said: ‘Rishi Sunak has asked Suella Braverman to leave government and she has accepted.’ 

In an ominous response, Ms Braverman said: ‘It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as Home Secretary. I will have more to say in due course.’ 

Westminster was shock as David Cameron emerged from an official car in Downing Street this morning to be made Foreign Secretary 

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (right) has taken over in the Home Office. In a decision that sent an earthquake through Westminster David Cameron (left) has taken over Mr Cleverly’s old job

Suella Braverman was sacked as Home Secretary by Rishi Sunak today

The PM is trying to restore his authority with potentially less than a year to a general election

Mr Cameron is the first member of the Upper House to hold the role since Lord Carrington in the 1980s

The Conservatives announced the reshuffle was starting with a message on social media saying Mr Sunak is ‘strengthening his team… to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future’

Police detain a man during protests in central London on Saturday

Briefing out of No10 overnight suggested that the government is looking at toughening up the rules for police blocking such protests – which have been happening weekly in the capital. 

Having held off before the Remembrance weekend, Downing Street seems to have decided it must act before a key court judgment on the Rwanda policy on Wednesday.

The government is braced to lose the case, with concerns that Ms Braverman might have attempted to burnish her credentials with the Tory right by quitting and demanding the UK leaves the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The Conservatives announced the reshuffle was starting with a message on social media saying Mr Sunak is ‘strengthening his team… to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future’. 

Other major jobs are expected to switch hands, with Health Secretary Steve Barclay and Environment Secretary Therese Coffey tipped as under threat.

However, Jeremy Hunt is staying as Chancellor with barely a week until the Autumn Statement. 

Lower down the food chain, health minister Neil O’Brien and long-serving education minister Nick Gibb have announced they are leaving government. 

Former minister Andrea Jenkyns said Ms Braverman had been ‘sacked for speaking the truth’, and it was a ‘bad call by Rishi caving in to the left’.

News of Mrs Braverman’s exit came as defence minister James Heappey was touring broadcast studios.

Minutes before she was sacked, he had told LBC that Mr Sunak and his team in No 10 had been ‘very clear she (Mrs Braverman) has his confidence and, in that sense, one would imagine that she will continue’.

But he was told on air during an ITV Good Morning Britain interview that she had been sacked, leaving him to say: ‘Your viewers will be enjoying my discomfort, but it is in this case difficult to offer commentary when I just don’t know what is going on.’

Labour frontbencher Pat McFadden immediately seized on the return for Lord Cameron.

‘A few weeks ago Rishi Sunak said David Cameron was part of a failed status quo, now he’s bringing him back as his life raft,’ he said. 

‘This puts to bed the Prime Minister’s laughable claim to offer change from 13 years of Tory failure.’

More than 100 arrests were made after clashes involving far-Right groups and pro-Palestine protesters in central London on Saturday.

Mrs Braverman’s intervention came as speculation rages about her political future after she clashed with Downing Street over a newspaper article, which critics said inflamed tensions.

The Tories are lagging far behind in the polls with MPs increasingly nervous about Mr Sunak’s failure to make an impact

Ahead of Saturday’s protest, the Home Secretary branded it a ‘hate march’ and accused officers of ‘playing favourites’ with protesters. Last night, amid rumours of a Cabinet reshuffle, she doubled down on her comments.

In uncompromising language, Mrs Braverman tweeted that chants, placards and posters carried by some protesters were ‘clearly criminal’ and marked a ‘new low’.

She added: ‘Anti-Semitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling.

‘This can’t go on. Week by week, the streets of London are being polluted by hate, violence, and anti-Semitism. Members of the public are being mobbed and intimidated. Jewish people in particular feel threatened. Further action is necessary.’

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