Government sources have played down reports that Theresa May could promote David Cameron as a future Nato secretary general, saying no decision has yet been made about whether to push for a British candidate.

Jens Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian prime minister who currently holds the Nato job, is due to serve until at least 2018. Reports have suggested Cameron is being lined up as the next head of the military alliance.

One minister was quoted by the Mail as saying: “We’ve got to find a role for him – he has so much to offer. We have got to get him batting for Britain again.” Allies of Cameron said he could start to lay the groundwork for the £200,000-a-year post by entering public debates about defence and security policy.

Britain’s role in global security has been thrown into doubt by the vote to leave the European Union, and putting a candidate forward could demonstrate May’s commitment to retaining a senior role in Europe’s defence.

Cameron, who stepped down as prime minister in June after losing the EU referendum, and who subsequently resigned his seat at Westminster, is thought to have been looking for a suitably high-profile role, and has also been rumoured to be considering a role in international development.

He would be likely to need the support not just of May, whose aides have deprecated the “chumocracy” he created in government since she took over in July, but of other European leaders too, some of whom were angry at what they felt was Cameron’s negligence in failing to win the referendum.

A Downing Street source insisted no decision had yet been made about whether it would be wise to back a domestic candidate.

Another government source expressed scepticism, saying Cameron’s record in Libya, where he backed military intervention to remove Muammar Gaddafi, could count against him. “His political epitaph is to take short-term decisions and not carry them through,” the source said.

Cameron regards pledging to increase aid spending to 0.7% of GDP as a central part of his legacy as Conservative leader.

Former prime ministers can sometimes struggle to find a place in public life after leaving Downing Street. Gordon Brown was repeatedly rumoured as a potential managing director of the International Monetary Fund after losing the 2010 election, but would have required George Osborne’s backing for the job.



Tony Blair recently suggested he could be preparing to return to the political fray after several years pursuing other causes.

Cameron appears to have been enjoying his newfound freedom. It emerged before Christmas that he had returned to his hobby of grouse shooting, deemed too controversial while he was Conservative leader. His Christmas card was a cartoon portraying him and his wife as the two halves of a pantomime donkey.