I spent a year with Cameron - this is his shot at redemption

IT IS just what he wanted. And it is just what he needs. If David Cameron stands any chance of serious political redemption, then this is it, a return to frontline politics in a job which will play to his strengths of persuasion, charm and compromise.

- Dylan Jones

At least it rescues him from a lifetime of Chinese consultancy. Many will never forgive him for the almost offhand way he steered Britain into an unnecessary Brexit cul-de-sac, and the ramifications of his mistake continue to cast a pall over the country.

And yet there appears to be a second act for our beleaguered former prime minister, and on a broader scale an opportunity for him to try to recast the last 13 years of Tory rule.

I once spent a year with Cameron, on and off, when he was leader of the Opposition, back in 2007, working on a book that allowed him to espouse his ideas in a series of conversations.

I accompanied him on prison visits, constituency visits, by-election rallies, meetings with various security heads, and spent so much time in Portcullis House I thought I might have to start paying council tax.