begin quote from:
(CNN)Has
David Cameron's decision to gamble the future of the United Kingdom
left his political career in ruin? It was a move that backfired
spectacularly and led to the dramatic announcement …
David Cameron falls on his sword as gamble backfires
Story highlights
- David Cameron announces he will resign as prime minister
- Move comes after UK votes to leave European Union
- Leave campaign wins 52% of the vote
- Boris Johnson favorite to replace him
(CNN)Has David Cameron's decision to gamble the future of the United Kingdom left his political career in ruin?
It
was a move that backfired spectacularly and led to the dramatic
announcement that he'll quit as Britain's prime minister in the
aftermath of the Brexit vote -- an era-defining moment that will no
doubt lead to him being remembered for generations to come as the man
who took the country out of the European Union.
For
a man who told members of the Conservative Party to stop "banging on"
about Europe in his first conference speech as leader, it is perhaps
fitting that his reign comes to end with such symmetry.
Outside
10 Downing Street Friday, Cameron, who had defiantly championed the
cause of the Remain campaign, conceded that his position had become
untenable after a night of drama.
British PM announces resignation 03:02
Though
Cameron said he would remain in charge until a new leader is appointed
in early October, he pledged to try to "steady the ship" over the coming
months before handing over responsibility.
Failure?
It's
a huge blow to Cameron, who led the Conservative Party to victory in
the 2015 general election and saw off the threat of Scottish
independence a year before that.
But
his decision to attempt to solve party infighting and see off the
threat of the United Kingdom Independence Party by offering a referendum
on membership of the EU if he won the general election has proved fatal
to his reign.
Cameron's
name will no doubt be cast by some alongside the likes of Neville
Chamberlain and Anthony Eden, former prime ministers whose careers were
defined by failure.
Brexit: How did it happen? 01:09
Cameron
had been regarded as a lucky politician by some of his closest
colleagues but that luck ran out as the "Leave" campaign won 51.9% of
the vote to win by 1,269.501 votes, with turnout at 72%.
He'll
now be left to watch on as rivals make a claim for his job, with Boris
Johnson, the former mayor of London, the current favorite.
Clearly
emotional, Cameron, with his wife Samantha by his side, ran through his
achievements, including the introduction of gay marriage and progress
with the country's economy.
"I
fought this campaign in the only way I know how, which is to say
directly and passionately, what I think and feel -- head, heart and
soul.
"I held nothing back, I was
absolutely clear about my belief that Britain is stronger, safer and
better off inside the European Union and I made clear the referendum was
about this and this alone -- not the future of any single politician
including myself.
Brexit's on: What happens now? 01:13
"But
the British people have made a very clear decision to take a different
path and as such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take
it in this direction.
"I will do
everything I can as prime minister to steady the ship over the coming
weeks and months but I do not think it would be right for me to try to
be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.
"This
is not a decision I've taken lightly but I do believe it's in the
national interest to have a period of stability and then the new
leadership required."
Party infighting
But
all of those points will be washed away by the enormity of this result
-- a result that has changed the landscape of British politics forever.
Cameron's
undoing was that he believed the constant infighting within the
Conservative Party over Europe had to be resolved -- but the calling of a
referendum was an unnecessary gamble.
The UK votes to leave the EU in 90 seconds 01:32
He attempted to use the economy to persuade voters that remaining in Europe would be best for Britain -- but "Project Fear" as it was dubbed by his opponent, failed to resonate with a divided country.
He
resignation was perhaps inevitable -- a man who said that leaving the
EU would be like "putting a bomb under our economy" was never going to
be able to negotiate the country's exit.
In
the end, Cameron's gamble, one that he had been warned against, failed
to come off, as CNN's Max Foster summed up from Downing Street.
"We
thought he would reassure the markets but obviously the pressure was so
high that he had to come out with another solution and he fell on his
sword. An extraordinary day here.
"What this country doesn't need right now is more political instability on top of the market turmoil," Foster said.
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