Friends of Davis insisted he had acted in a principled way. He had been thinking about standing down since the weekend as he worked through the consequences of a government victory in the 42-day vote. Davis made up his mind on Wednesday afternoon when he watched Gordon Brown "buy" the vote. Policy differences with Cameron appeared not to have played a role in his decision. Some members of the shadow cabinet who take a hard line on terrorism, notably George Osborne and Michael Gove, had to be persuaded to support Davis's strong anti-42-day line. But the policy will remain, a position made clear by the promotion of Dominic Grieve, who is more of a libertarian than Davis.
Cameron made clear that the Tories would maintain their opposition to 42 days, as the counter-terrorism bill continues its journey through parliament. "We remain fully committed to our opposition to 42 days, and Dominic Grieve will step up our efforts to fight against it in parliament."
Only a handful of senior Tories voiced support for Davis. One of his most loyal supporters said: "David is more Cavalier than Roundhead. He feels passionately about this issue and was bored with sitting in his observation post turning his sights on the enemy. He has decided to saddle up and take a scalp. David will come back, and he can come back as shadow home secretary. Grieve is an admirable figure. But is he a long-term bet as home secretary?"
