The Know Daily - Tuesday 14 November 2023

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The Eden Project has launched a new initiative aimed at creating wildflower-rich grassland across the UK. The Eden Project Wildflower Bank will work in partnership with landowners, businesses and organisations to help tackle the biodiversity crisis by setting up wildflower seed hubs across the country.

🪧 Reshuffle rundown 

David Cameron will return to the cabinet table today for the first time in more than seven years, after being appointed foreign secretary in yesterday’s shock reshuffle.

Tell me more. 
In an “out of the blue” move, the former PM - who quit politics in 2016 after unsuccessfully campaigning for Remain in the Brexit referendum - was appointed foreign secretary by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government. 

Cameron isn’t a sitting MP, so he was made a peer in the House of Lords to take up the position. This means he won’t appear in the House of Commons to regularly face MPs - however, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has said that he will “do everything” he can to ensure the new foreign secretary faces proper scrutiny. 

What’s behind the comeback?
The Daily Mail described Cameron’s appointment as “Rishi’s big throw of the dice”. This sentiment was shared by The Guardian, which labelled the reshuffle as “probably a last throw of the dice”, designed to “close the gap” with Labour by shoring up support for the party among centrist voters. 

Cameron, who has kept a relatively low profile since leaving politics, said he wanted to “support” Sunak. But his return “comes with baggage”, said The Guardian. The Liberal Democrats have already called for Lord Cameron’s peerage to be blocked over his lobbying for controversial finance business Greensill Capital - a matter Cameron said had been “dealt with”. 

Who else is in (and out)?
Former foreign secretary James Cleverly has moved to the role of home secretary, taking over from Suella Braverman who was sacked yesterday after criticising the police’s handling of pro-Palestine protests and describing homelessness as a “lifestyle choice”. 

Thérèse Coffey, who was deputy PM under Liz Truss, was replaced as environment secretary by Steve Barclay, the former health secretary. 

Esther McVey - a prominent backbencher and GB News presenter - will reportedly sit in cabinet as a “minister for common sense”, in a move designed to “soothe” those on the right of the party, said POLITICO.