How Cameron plans to profit from the war between Blair and Brown

Almost exactly two years have passed since Michael Howard was drafted in as emergency leader of the Conservative party. He has done the job he was asked to do. He took over at a moment of traumatic collapse. He administered first aid and gradually brought the victim back to life. In due course colour returned to its cheeks, and it was able to sit up in bed. Thanks to the kindly ministrations of Dr Howard, the patient is now taking tentative, unaided first steps.

The recovery is by no means assured. But Howard’s own role is over. His final act was bravest of all. When he suddenly announced that he was stepping down as leader last May, everyone thought that he had made a foolish and reprehensibly self-indulgent mistake. Sandra Howard spent the car journey to Putney, where the announcement was made, imploring her husband to stay on. Rachel Whetstone, Howard’s political adviser, fully supported these pleas, ruthlessly breaking down in tears in a dramatic final attempt to change his mind.

But Howard has been vindicated. Against the odds, the long period of Conservative party introspection that followed his resignation has done nothing but good. It has engendered a lively and important debate. Conservatives are interesting again. Above all, David Cameron, Howard’s chosen candidate, has used the intervening eight months to establish himself as a major presence on the national stage. It is easy to sneer at Cameron for his youth, his brashness, his social ease. The truth is that his achievement is massive. He has suddenly become the most intriguing figure in British politics, with the power to reshape the political landscape and dominate British public life for two decades. The opportunities which will open up to him after his election as Conservative party leader this Tuesday are boundless.