In a poignant piece of political symmetry, Michael Howard chose Putney as the backdrop for his resignation statement this afternoon - echoing his first appearance as party leader 18 months ago.

He began by praising the win of Putney's new Conservative MP, Justine Greening, saying: "I came here to Putney on that day to a constituency I said we had to win. Last night we did, thanks to the efforts of Justine and her fantastic team."

But he took his audience by surprise by declaring he had "failed to deliver" his promise to lead the Tories to victory - and that, combined with his age of 68 at the next election, meant he should stand down. He said: "I believe that is simply too old to lead a party into government."

He promised to stay on long enough to oversee changes to the unpopular leader selection process that has seen three unsatisfactory leaders anointed in a row - with disastrous results.

See next Wednesday's Wandsworth Borough News for full coverage.