Hague on Cameron's resignation

I have little doubt that when David Cameron said on stepping down as PM that he would continue as MP for Witney, that he meant it.

However, the recent history of former Prime Ministers in the House of Commons has not been a happy one.

If, like Gordon Brown, they practically disappear from view, they get accused of failing to do their duty to their constituents.

If they remain active then almost everything they do can at best be a distraction from the policies of their successors or at worst will be seen, rightly or wrongly, as trying to undermine them.

Margaret Thatcher endured years of ungracious treatment from Ted Heath while she was PM but after losing power treated her own Conservative successor even worse.

As William Hague wrote in the Telegraph yesterday,

"A former prime minister sitting in the commons is always in a difficult position, particularly if his or her party is still in government. From William Pitt to Margaret Thatcher, former premiers have found it thankless to sit on the back benches."

"And for someone still in the prime of life, there is a natural urge to get on with new ideas and challenges. It is not in David Cameron's nature to be a Ted Heath or a David Lloyd George, hanging on in the hope the world will see that they should be restored to power."

Comments

Jim said…
David Cameron quite simply forgot who he was.

Let me explain.

David Cameron MP was elected to serve the people of the constituency of Witney. In this role he had been elected to hold the government to account on behalf of the people of Witney.

Then David Cameron went on to become not only a minister of the government (whom he is supposed to hold to account) but the actual Prime Minster of it.

so we are left with no one holding to account the government on behalf of the people of witney are we?

this is why demand 3:

Separation of powers:
The executive shall be separated from the legislature. To that effect, prime ministers shall be elected by popular vote; they shall appoint their own ministers, with the approval of parliament, to assist in the exercise of such powers as may be granted to them by the sovereign people of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; no prime ministers or their ministers shall be members of parliament or any legislative assembly;

is so important.
Chris Whiteside said…
There are countries - the USA for example - who separate the executive and legislature.

I can see advantages and disadvantages.

The disenfranchisement of the PM's constituency is not, however, a serious problem in practice.

While David Cameron was Prime Minister the electors of Witney had the power to hold the Prime Minister very directly to account themselves.

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