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Yesterday, I read an article by Louise Mensch calling David Cameron one of Britain’s greatest Prime Ministers. To say he was “one of the greatest” is, to put it mildly, over-egging it a bit. But it is worth reflecting on David Cameron’s significant accomplishments while in office, which I think are in no particular order:
1. Giving the British people a say on their European Union membership (and luckily they rejected his advice on how to vote).
2. Turning the economy around and significantly reducing the deficit.
3. Putting policies in place that got people off welfare and into work. The UK currently has record employment and welfare benefits are capped.
4. Winning the Scottish Referendum.
5. Putting in education reforms that turned failed schools into academies and pushing through free schools all over the country. This has improved British schools academic performance immensely.
Reflecting on that, was Cameron an even great Prime Minister? In my opinion, no. I wrote in 2015 that he could have been, but his actions since his general election victory, especially his utterly hysterical Remain campaigning (largely due to Boris jealousy), tarnished his legacy a bit. But he was a good Prime Minister. Here are my articles I wrote on Cameron pre and post GE 2015 on him: http://gbm.7e9.mywebsitetransfer.com/uncategorized/camerons-chance-to-be-a-great-prime-minister/ & http://con4lib.com/if-we-vote-leave-cameron-must-resign/
All things being equal he is likely to be remembered as a “near great” Prime Minister. He is still a young man, (he is 49- Gladstone formed his last government in his 80s) and he could return to political prominence at some point in the future. But Cameron fell victim to the curse that most with power tend to fall into: hubris. In his quest to destroy both the Labour party and those on the right of his party and cement himself as master of the political universe, he ended up destroying much of his credibility and ultimately his job during the EU Referendum campaign. Make no mistake though, Cameron was a political giant and maybe one day he will return.
