God knows what David Davis’ personal agenda is for this extraordinary resignation. It has unsettled the Conservative leadership and put them between a rock and a hard place. They cannot not support the Davis by-election campaign but David Cameron is not best pleased. We all know the meaning of “courageous” and “personal” in this context. Was it just gesture politics by David Davis? What is in it for him? Difficult to see any personal gain whatever the outcome. Or are we all too cynical about politicians? Could it have been genuine conviction politics without consideration of personal gain? A resignation designed to put civil liberty back on the agenda. Whatever the motivation, and however annoyed the Tory leadership may be, there is a real political opportunity here. When David Davis arrives back in the commons, as he surely will, he is not going to be back in the Home Office post. And yet he is too talented not to be in the Cabinet. But in what position? I suggest a new, roving portfolio as the first (shadow) Minister for Civil Liberty. A wide ranging brief to cover imprisonment without trial, the erosion of juries, CCTV, the uploading of personal medical records to central government computers, Oyster Card monitoring, DNA records, finger printing… the list is sadly endless. The Conservative Party needs to eschew lowest common denominator populism and show its real libertarian credentials. And David Davis is the man to do that.