The Cameron Government and Gx Leadership

Despite the plaudits and high expectations, David Cameron’s role as a leader and innovator in Gx summitry appears overhyped. Upon closer inspection, his contribution to global summitry has lacked originality, vision, and coherence. This article will bring aspects of UK policy into relief by means of a close reading of the report Governance for Growth: Building Consensus for the Future. It will then account for these failings by relating the conclusions of this specific case study to the government’s overall foreign policy. The article focuses on the role of David Cameron and the Conservative Party specifically because, on the one hand, Gx summitry is a process that stresses the role of individual leaders; while, on the other hand, the coalition’s foreign policy appears to be an area in which the Liberal Democrats have exerted little influence as coalition partners. ‘Same bed, different dreams’ may be the political reality but little has emerged to suggest that different dreams have impacted on outcomes.