3. He Became The First Prime Minister In More Than 100 Years To Lose A Foreign-Policy Vote In The House Of Commons... Highlighting His Lack Of Control Over Extremist Conservative Members
David Cameron has the envious record of being the youngest British Prime Minister (at the age of 43) to take office since Lord Liverpool in 1812 - but he also holds the unenviable record of being the first sitting PM in more than 100 years to lose a foreign policy vote in the House of Commons. In August 2013 Cameron called for a military response in Syria to President Bashar al-Assad's government and their use of chemical weapons. However, the Coalition motion lost by 285 votes to 272 - meaning Britain would not support the US-led strikes in the Middle East. A total of 30 Conservative - as well as nine Lib Dem - MPs voted against his Coalition Government policy, severely weakening his own position. If Cameron cannot convince his own MPs to follow his lead, the British public will ask themselves: "Why should we?" Voters will also be concerned that even if they do support Cameron's positions, the PM won't be able to get them past his own party. Cameron would certainly rather everyone forgot this one ever happened.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
