Tony Blair's press secretary Alastair Campbell used all his experience as a former tabloid journalist to handle the Ron Davies episode.

The Downing Street press office - often claimed to be the best spin machine in the world - has not always lived up to its reputation.

The handling of the row surrounding revelations that Formula One racing boss Bernie Ecclestone had given £1m to the Labour party was a classic example of the usually smooth operation failing to get to grips with a story which then ran out of control for days.

And the Tories had a series of disastrous episodes with disgraced ministers hanging on long beyond their sell-by date only later being forced to quit after weeks of damaging media stories.

The government was determined not to get itself into the same mess and, once Ron Davies told Downing Street he wanted to see the prime minister, the spin machine was put into crisis mode.

Locked in room

The first sign that something was afoot was when Downing Street launched a flurry of telephone calls to senior political journalists, without giving clear details of what they wanted.

Suspicions heightened when lobby correspondents were told their daily 4pm briefing with Mr Campbell in the House of Commons had been moved to Downing Street.

Once there, they were locked into the briefing room as Mr Campbell made the announcement that Mr Davies had quit the cabinet because of a "serious lapse of judgement". No-one was allowed to leave until the end of the briefing.

As the journalists attempted to prize more information out of Mr Campbell, the spin operation outside was moving into top gear.

Mr Davies left his department, giving just one interview to the BBC before heading off to Wales.

His successor, Alun Michael was appointed and also gave one interview. In the period of about 90 minutes or less, the crisis had been "handled".

Textbook stuff

Ingham: an impressive operator

It was a perfect exercise in news management. All governments do it and Margaret Thatcher's ex-press secretary Bernard Ingham was equally impressive in his handling of bad news stories.

But Mr Campbell's operation was textbook stuff. He spent many years on tabloid newspapers and knows exactly which way the media is likely to jump on any particular story.

Yet, despite Mr Campbell's best efforts, the day still ended with numerous unanswered questions about what exactly happened on Clapham Common and, later, in Brixton.

The problem for the government's spin doctors now is that the issue is out of their control.

The newspapers are certain to start delving deeper into the affair and it is highly likely the culprits who robbed Mr Davies will be found and, presumably, hauled before the courts.

There will also undoubtedly be a temptation for them to sell their story to any newspaper willing to pay.

One way or another, the full details about what happened are almost certain to be made public.