article_snippet: For some time, this has been predicted in Westminster.
article_snippet: But nobody expected David Cameron’s to say so publicly, and certainly nobody thought David Cameron’s would do it on the brink of one of the tightest and most unpredictable election campaigns in history.
article_snippet: Instead, David Cameron’s announced David Cameron’s intentions in a throwaway interview with a BBC journalist.
article_snippet: What makes Mr Cameron’s announcement so extraordinary is that there is simply no historical precedent.
article_snippet: But far from lancing the boil of speculation, Labour’s announcement only made matters worse.
article_snippet: And Mr Cameron decision is all the more mystifying because Mr Cameron is under relatively little pressure to step aside.
article_snippet: I can hardly think of anything more likely to undermine and debilitate a future Tory government – especially one with a narrow or non-existent majority.
article_snippet: But, only weeks before the most uncertain election in living memory, it was surely a mistake to telegraph Mr Cameron intentions as Mr Cameron did.