They shoot horses, don’t they? Politicians too, when their political injuries make them a liability to their parties. Julie Kirkbride, Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, was apparently put out of her expenses-related misery during a conversation with David Cameron on Thursday morning. The party leader said it was Ms Kirkbride’s “own decision” to stand down at the next election. But the backbencher had vowed to fight on during a BBC radio interview only three hours before.

Her assisted political suicide spoiled the fun of a populist campaign, entitled with endearing familiarity “Julie Must Go”. It will have to change its slogan, displayed in wobbly lettering on a banner in Bromsgrove High Street, to: “Julie May Be Going, But We Still Want a Fundamental Change in British Politics”. That will use up a lot of felt tip pens.