DAVID Cameron is being lined up for the role of NATO secretary general, it has been claimed.

The former Prime Minister and Witney MP is believed to be the British candidate with the best chance of getting Europe's top defence job, the Daily Mail reports. 

The secretary general is the leader of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) staff and chairman of the defence alliance's highest decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council.

The current secretary general is Jens Stoltenberg, the former Prime Minister of Norway. He took office on October 2014 and is expected to leave in either 2018 or 2019.

If Mr Cameron replaces him, he will be entitled to a tax-free salary of 260,624 euros (£222,019).

His appointment could also help his successor as Prime Minister, Theresa May, fufill her pledge that Britain will play a bigger role in the alliance.

A senior member of Mrs May's Cabinet told the Daily Mail: "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."