David Cameron’s pure failure

A principled, talented politician has bequeathed to his successor a constitutional crisis

by Oliver Kamm / July 1, 2016 / Leave a comment

UNITED KINGDOM, London: Prime Minister David Cameron make a statement on June 24, 2016 in London, England following EU referendum results. The results from the historic EU referendum has now been declared and the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union.

Prime Minister David Cameron announces his resignation following a “Leave” victory in Britain’s referendum of its membership of the European Union. 24th June 2016 ©NEWZULU/Ian Davidson/NEWZULU/PA Images

David Cameron succeeded in restoring the dominance of the Conservative Party at horrendous cost to the national interest. Though he didn’t intend the destructive part of that outcome, it is his handiwork and will be his political legacy. His premiership will be defined, like Anthony Eden’s, by a single disastrous decision. Unlike the Suez debacle, however, Cameron’s misjudgement has caused a rupture not just with Britain’s most important ally but with all our allies simultaneously. The referendum on EU membership, for which there was no reason beyond the internal politics of the Conservative Party, will have costs that are as yet unknown but are certain to be heavy. Britain will be poorer materially and culturally because of Cameron’s gamble. There may cease to be a United Kingdom altogether.

How did it come to this? When he unexpectedly won the Conservative leadership in 2005 against the uninspiring David Davis, Cameron had an acute sense of his party’s problems. Against Tony Blair, the dominant centrist politician in Europe, the Tories had collapsed in electoral support and public respect. They still bore a reputation for economic failure after the 1992 sterling crisis and a succession of leaders (one of them of awesome incompetence) had failed to make headway.

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Comments

John A.
July 2, 2016 at 11:09
"Cameron is a politician of principle..." A man of principle would never slander the Leader of the Opposition in the way that Cameron did in regard to Bin Laden, he would apologize whenever an apology were rightly called for, and he would answer simple questions manfully.
Steve
July 3, 2016 at 13:17
Cameron was neither principled nor talented. Where on earth did you get this ridiculous notion from? He scraped through the general election then subsequently drove this country into the ground with his lack of long-term thinking. His talent is in saying the right words, not doing the right things.
Alasdair B.
July 9, 2016 at 11:14
How exactly did the Consevative gain from the collapse of Labour's vote in Scotland GE15 when the SNP gained 53 seats out of an available 59 leaving Cameron with one solitary representative North of the Border. In my book that was a landslide victory for the Nationalists and humiliation of the Scottish Conservative party