Cameron does it again!

Tory Leader David Cameron and his aides must have thought long and hard before launching his call for Blair to resign. It is true that the excellent soundbites at PMQs this week got Cameron some of his best headlines since being elected over a year ago. It put the Blair succession issue back on the media agenda and compounded another bad week for the Premier.

But I cannot help thinking that this wasn't just some short-term headline grabbing initiative. Cameron toured the media handing out the same "hello, just go" line for a few days and the Sunday Express poll today picked up the same theme (53% want Blair gone now, including 43% of Labour voters.)

So is there a longer-term strategy in place? The more I think about this, the more I think there is. When Dave was elected I said that his real USP was being able to "out-think" Labour on a number of issues. I feel he's done it again.

Blair is the Tories best asset. We want him to stay in place long enough for his to lead his party to one last (and maybe the greatest) slaughtering at the polls this May. We want meltdown in England, a battering in Scotland and a thumping in Wales. We want Blair to be the man who leads Labour into the oncoming electoral machine gun fire and watch as Labour Councils and Councillors are defeated.

So when then demand he quit? Because the one thing he now cannot do is resign - because we've told him to. If Blair quits now, Cameron will claim the scalp and will be the Tory Leader who finally got rid of Blair. The Tory media will declare that the Witney MP will have been instrumental in ousting the Sedgefield MP. Hence Blair cannot quit now and give Cameron that boost. He must hang on and go in his own time and in his own way. And in the time being, lead Labour to that May defeat.

Win-Win for the Conservative Leader.