It's hard to locate on a map, but a new plan to disconnect from Australia's power grid is bringing a surge of attention to the village of Tyalgum, writes Royce Kurmelovs.

The 300 residents of Tyalgum, set among the rolling hills near the Queensland-New South Wales border, are fond of saying their town is "beautiful 24-7".
Soon, if all goes to plan, this little town in a region famed for its alternative lifestyle could be the first place in Australia to get off the electricity grid and keep the lights on 24-7 using 100% renewable energy.
The idea was hatched in September 2014 by local entrepreneur Andrew Price, a 10-year veteran of the renewable energy industry who runs the company Australian Radio Towers.
"Why off the grid? Why not?" Mr Price tells the BBC.
"The power is cheap, it is reliable and currently solar is about as green or renewable as anything else on the market today. Taking an entire town off the grid also makes a statement to the country that this can be done and that it should be done."
While Tyalgum may be an unlikely place to wind up at the forefront of a renewable energy revolution, there are several reasons why it is well suited to the project, the plan's proponents say.
Firstly, sustainability issues are close to the town's heart, Tyalgum has been locked in an ongoing battle to stop fracking in the region and community support for environmentally friendly projects runs deep.
The town also happens to lie at the very end of the electricity grid, meaning it can be disconnected without disrupting energy supply to neighbouring communities.
Then there's Tyalgum's economic makeup - the town is reliant on tourism and there are few stable jobs, so electricity bills hit locals hard.
According to Mr Price, the 300 people of Tyalgum collectively spend A$700,000 (Â£406,000, $534,000) a year on electricity, with 55% of that going to maintain the poles and wires.
The project to take the town off the grid has attracted A$15,000 in government funding so far.
Kacey Clifford, who helps lead the project, says maintaining and deepening community support over the long term will be vital in making the project viable.
"It was important to get the community to back the concept before we developed the solution," Ms Clifford says. "I think they refer to it as getting a social licence.
"It just seemed like the right way to do it, rather than just turning up with authority and providing the solution."
Installation of the solar systems, complete with panels and battery storage, is expected to begin in October.
Solar energy systems will be granted to property owners across the town through a lottery. They will then pay a portion of the money they save on electricity into a fund which will be used to install systems on the other 120-odd homes in town.
Building the infrastructure needed to take the entire village off the grid is expected to cost A$7m.
The town also needs permission to cut the cord - there are regulations that govern the way power is generated, distributed and sold in the existing power grid.
Tosh Szatow is director of energy management firm Energy for the People and wrote the feasibility study for the Tyalgum Energy Project. He says meeting regulatory requirements is "easier than what people think".
"The regulators have been held up as a problem with big projects like these, but really it is coming up with a sensible plan that keeps the regulator happy," he says.
"All the regulator cares about is the price of energy the customer is getting and things like security and reliability."
Independent energy consultant Craig Froome agrees that issues such as regulation, battery storage and negotiating ownership of the connecting wires are not problematic enough to sink the project.
"People are hesitant in doing anything until they see it working somewhere else. You need someone to take the initiative and do it," he says.
"In all honesty, it would be good to have a demonstration site that actually proves decentralised distribution will actually work. Can you actually take areas off the grid?"
But even if the project stops before reaching off-grid status, it won't be a total loss, Ms Clifford says.
"We don't see a risk at any point if we were to stop because people still have solar on their roof," she says.
"Our strategy is that we're going to put as much solar on roofs as we can, as many batteries that we can, have that infrastructure sitting there and then go to Australia and say we have all this stuff in play, what are you going to do about it?"
"It's guerrilla warfare in the renewable energy industry."


Calum Butcher scored the only goal of the game as League One leaders Burton Albion move seven points clear at the top with victory over Chesterfield.

Butcher finished calmly from inside the box at the end of a first half delayed by an injury to Spireites defender Liam O'Neil at the Pirelli Stadium.
The home side had the best of the chances, with forward Stuart Beavon denied by goalkeeper Tommy Lee.
Defeat leaves Chesterfield just a point above Fleetwood and the bottom four.


A man is facing a life sentence for the "frenzied" knife murder of Clydebank teenager Paige Doherty.

The 15-year-old's body was found in a wooded area in the West Dunbartonshire town on 21 March. She had more than 140 injuries and been stabbed 61 times.
Paige was last seen entering a deli, owned by 32-year-old John Leathem.
He admitted her murder and claimed to have "panicked" after Paige threatened to report him for sexual assault after she applied for a job.
At the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lady Rae deferred sentence on Leathem until next month and told the married father-of-two: "This was a savage, frenzied attack on a child."
The court heard that Paige, who was 4ft 8in, had stayed with a friend in Clydebank the night before she was killed.
She had gone into the delicatessen, on Fleming Avenue, to buy a roll before travelling to a hairdressers where she worked in Kirkintilloch, about 12 miles away.
CCTV footage played in court showed Paige entering Delicious Deli at 08:21. Leathem is believed to have killed her shortly afterwards.
Prosecutor Iain McSporran told the court: "That was the last time she was seen or captured on CCTV alive by anyone other than by Leathem."
Just 10 minutes after Paige entered the deli, the shutter to the front door was pulled down.
Leathem told the owner of a nearby hairdresser who had peered in: "What a morning - the lassie didn't turn up. I had a nose bleed and I need to collect my car."
After collecting his car and parking it outside the deli, Leathem began his attempt to cover up the murder.
CCTV images showed him running to neighbouring shops to buy bin bags and anti-bacterial wipes.
Shortly afterwards he is seen taking Paige's body from the deli to his car.
Mr McSporran said: "The body of Paige Doherty was wrapped in what appeared to be black bin bags...her white socked foot protruding.
"He placed her body in the rear of the car and closed the boot."
Leathem went on to change his trousers and bought bottles of bleach before going back to his shop.
Mr McSporran told the court: "The shop then remained open for business with Leathem fully engaged in preparing food and serving customers until 3.15pm that afternoon."
Prosecutors believe he had initially moved Paige's body from his car to his garden shed.
Concerns were raised that night when no-one had heard from Paige. Her mother Pamela Munro went to police and a missing person inquiry began.
The day after the murder Leathem went on a family outing to Balmaha with his wife and young child.
On 21 March, two days after the murder, Leathem is believed to have moved Paige's body.
His car was filmed on CCTV at the area where her body was dumped - a wooded area close to the city's Great Western Road, less than a mile from the deli.
He then returned to the deli and opened for business.
At around noon that day, two people found Paige's body within undergrowth.
A post mortem examination later recorded 61 stab wounds, including 43 to her head and neck, and 85 further cuts - many of them described as "defensive in nature".
As police launched a murder inquiry, Paige's mother Pamela Munro wrote on Facebook: "We are absolutely devastated, as will many people who know her will be xxx."
Detectives later discovered that Paige had gone to the deli on 19 March "but had not walked away".
Leathem's shop, home and car were searched, after which he was detained.
Leathem initially denied any involvement with Paige's death but later admitted his guilt in the face of overwhelming evidence against him.
His lawyer told the court that Leathem had been a "normal and ordinary person" before the murder.
Ian Duguid QC, defending, said what happened was a "gross over-reaction" to a comment Paige allegedly made.
It was claimed the teenager had gone to the deli thinking Leathem may employ her, but that he told her he had other "candidates to interview".
Paige was then said to have told Leathem: "I thought I was getting the job. I will just say that you touched me."
Mr Duguid said Leathem suddenly stood up at this comment before Paige started screaming.
The advocate went on: "At that point, he reached across for a knife...he went to grab the knife and stabbed her."
Mr Duguid concluded: "It is not my position that the nature of the comment would mitigate the number of stab wounds or the brutality of the attack.
"I don't know if it is true or not, but I am only taking the instructions of the accused for what took place."
The QC added that Leathem had always "accepted responsibility" for the death.
The court also heard a number of victim impact statements from Paige's "heartbroken" family.
Her mother Pamela revealed how she continues to suffer "sleeplessness and nightmares".
Prosecutor Mr McSporran said: "She describes waking to hear her daughter's screams and the awful realisation that she was not there to help her."
Her husband Andrew Munro - Paige's step-father - was said to be "living in a state of depression".
The advocate depute added: "They cannot get out of their minds the terror they believe Paige must have experienced as the attack upon her began."
Mr McSporran added: "The effect on her siblings - and the loss suffered by her many friends - are all set out in touching detail."
Following the hearing, Det Supt Duncan Sloan, who led the inquiry, said CCTV footage had been "vital" to catching Leathem.
"Officers painstakingly reviewed hours of footage which ultimately revealed that Paige walked into that shop but didn't leave," he said.
"This, coupled with extensive forensic examinations of the crime scenes helped to establish what happened to Paige and who was responsible.
"I am sure that the sheer weight of this evidence has led to the guilty plea at court today."
The detective added: "Our thoughts remain with Paige's family, whose vibrant, bright young daughter has been cruelly taken away from them at just 15 years of age.
"Paige's whole future lay ahead of her and her life has been brutally cut short by the vicious actions of one man."


A research project involving elderly drivers in Dorset is analysing whether free coaching sessions can reduce their involvement in road accidents.

One hundred drivers aged 75 and over are involved in the project, focussing on driving off at road junctions.
Figures show drivers aged 20 to 59 caused four-and-a-half times more road accidents than those aged 60 to 99.
But Dorset Council said it was looking at ways to manage having the highest amount of elderly drivers in the UK.
Dorset County Council's road safety manager Rob Smith said its research showed "a large proportion of crashes where the older driver is deemed blameworthy occur at junctions when turning right".
He added this "may be due to failure to judge speed and distance properly due to the ageing process".
The council is working with Dorset Road Safe and a research specialist from Warwick University to evaluate whether a series of theory and practical lessons, costing Â£6,000 in total, will reduce the county's elderly driver accident statistics.
Initial results will be announced in the spring.
Dorset Police figures show the highest amount of road accidents between April 2012 and 2013 actually involved young drivers, with those aged 20-29 involved in 223 incidents.
This compares with 44 drivers aged 70 to 79, 26 drivers aged 80 to 89 and five drivers aged 90 to 99 in the same period.
Young-versus-old driver data is used by a number of road safety charities to argue elderly drivers do not pose the greatest danger behind the wheel.
Mr Smith said young drivers were also a "priority road user group" but that offers of free or reduced price refresher sessions had a "very low take up".
The AA said it supported the older driver project.
Spokesman Paul Watters said: "There are now more than 1m drivers in the UK who are over 80 and, with an ageing population, this is only going to increase."
He added the AA's studies decades ago "identified some older driver issues setting in at around 55 years".
At the moment, motorists over 70 must declare they are fit every three years, but they do not have to take a driving or medical exam.


Kris Doolan came off the bench to score twice as Partick Thistle beat struggling Hamilton Academical to move into the Premiership's top six.

It was a first half to forget, with neither side managing a shot on target.
As the game opened up after the break Doolan nodded the home side ahead from close range, shortly after Danny Devine had been denied with a similar chance.
Then Doolan made it two with another header, this time getting to Callum Booth's cross.
With Ross County losing at home to St Johnstone, the result moved Thistle into sixth place, five points clear of Accies in the relegation play-off spot.
With six of their seven previous meetings having ended all square, the opening exchanges indicated another tight affair in prospect. Neither side created a clear-cut chance during the first quarter of this fixture.
Hamilton goalkeeper Gary Woods dealt with a cross from the right with a powerful punch clear, while Tomas Cerny at the other end only dirtied his gloves by fielding a headed pass-back from Devine.
This was Cerny's 200th appearance in Scottish football and by coincidence it came in a fixture between the two teams with whom he acquired that total.
Having never been on the losing side in fixtures between the two, he was keen to maintain that trend.
However, his goal was threatened five minutes before the interval when Michael Devlin sent a glancing header wide of his right-hand post after connecting with a Danny Redmond corner kick from the right.
They talk about "Firhill for thrills" but that phrase was furthest from the mind after the first half. While there was plenty of endeavour, there was no end product.
Early in the second half Eamonn Brophy got his head to a Redmond cross but it flew wide of the target.
Brophy got closer with his next effort. This time he got beyond Liam Lindsay before firing in a low shot, but Cerny was alert to the danger and stretched well to turn the effort round the post.
Thistle should have opened the scoring through Lindsay when he blasted over from four yards when Woods parried a Devine header into his path.
Midway through the second half the home side made the breakthrough. Substitutes Chris Erskine and Doolan combined as the latter rose at the back post to head home the former's cross from the left.
And Thistle doubled their lead when Booth's cross was perfect for Doolan to dispatch another header beyond the reach of Woods.
Thistle have now gone 11 games unbeaten against Accies, and while Alan Archibald's men rise up to the top half of the table, the visitors are left in the thick of a relegation battle.
Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald: "It was a massive game and a massive three points. There wasn't a lot of good football on show, I think because of the size of the game and what was at stake.
"It is a boost (being in the top six). We don't harp on about it too much, I think the last time it lasted three days. I said to the lads we've nine huge games before the split, lets win the home ones and see where it takes us, we've done that today and hopefully we can build on it."
Hamilton Academical manager Martin Canning: "We were probably the better team for parts of the first half. We forced Thistle into changing their shape. In the second half you can clear see we tired which was going to happen given how stretched the squad is. When you've got a squad our size and you've got seven or eight bodies out it's going to take its toll.
"It's still all to play for, it's still a tight league, but it's going to be a grind."
Match ends, Partick Thistle 2, Hamilton Academical 0.
Second Half ends, Partick Thistle 2, Hamilton Academical 0.
Corner,  Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Danny Devine.
Attempt missed. Blair Adams (Hamilton Academical) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Attempt missed. Giannis Skondras (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right from a direct free kick.
Rakish Bingham (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Danny Devine (Partick Thistle).
Foul by Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle).
Darian MacKinnon (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Darian MacKinnon (Hamilton Academical).
Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Grant Gillespie (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle).
Goal!  Partick Thistle 2, Hamilton Academical 0. Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) header from very close range to the top right corner. Assisted by Callum Booth.
Ryan Edwards (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Darian MacKinnon (Hamilton Academical).
Giannis Skondras (Hamilton Academical) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Ryan Edwards (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Giannis Skondras (Hamilton Academical).
Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Blair Adams replaces Eamonn Brophy.
Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Gramoz Kurtaj replaces Massimo Donati.
Foul by Liam Lindsay (Partick Thistle).
Eamonn Brophy (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Steven Lawless (Partick Thistle).
Grant Gillespie (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Goal!  Partick Thistle 1, Hamilton Academical 0. Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) header from very close range to the top right corner. Assisted by Chris Erskine.
Attempt missed. Liam Lindsay (Partick Thistle) right footed shot from very close range is too high.
Attempt saved. Danny Devine (Partick Thistle) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Grant Gillespie replaces Daniel Redmond.
Craig Watson (Hamilton Academical) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Kris Doolan (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Craig Watson (Hamilton Academical).
Michael Devlin (Hamilton Academical) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Abdul Osman (Partick Thistle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Michael Devlin (Hamilton Academical).
Attempt saved. Chris Erskine (Partick Thistle) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution, Partick Thistle. Chris Erskine replaces Adebayo Azeez.
Foul by Ryan Edwards (Partick Thistle).
Michael Devlin (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.


The Australian government has reversed a decision which would have restricted access to parliament in Canberra for women wearing full-face Islamic veils.

Earlier this month, parliament said anyone visiting the building with their face covered would have to sit in a separate area of the public gallery.
The move was widely seen as being aimed at Muslim women in burkas or niqabs, prompting discrimination accusations.
Officials said visitors would now have to show their face briefly to security.
"Once this process has taken place, visitors are free to move about the public spaces of the building, including all chamber galleries, with facial coverings in place," the Department of Parliamentary Services said in a statement.
The plans would have affected Muslim women wearing niqabs, full-length garments where only the eyes are visible, and burkas, where no part of the face can be seen.
By Jon DonnisonBBC News, Sydney
Stephen Parry, president of the Senate, said the initial ruling had been made because of rumours that a group of people were planning to attend prime minister's questions on 2 October wearing veils and stage a protest in the public gallery.
He said the measure was intended to be temporary and, as it had come on the last day of the parliamentary session, had never been enforced.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott - who has previously described burkas as a "confronting" item of clothing which he wished people would not wear - had asked Speaker Bronwyn Bishop to "rethink that decision".
The rule had come amid growing concern about the threat of terror attacks in Australia and the involvement of Australian jihadists in the Islamic State (IS) militant group fighting in Iraq and Syria.
Australia has joined the US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq, and domestically, police have conducted anti-terror raids in recent weeks.
But critics said that as everyone entering parliament was subject to security checks there was no reason for people with faces covered to be considered a specific threat.
Opposition Labor frontbencher and former immigration minister Tony Burke welcomed the reversal, saying the decision had been taking without proper security advice and for no good reason.
"In 2014 for two weeks, the official policy of the Australian parliament was to practice segregation and we need to ensure this does not happen again," he said in a statement.
There are about half a million Muslims in Australia, making up just over 2% of the population.
Timeline: Australia's terror threat
Phil Mercer: Australia's home-grown terror threat
Who are Australia's radicalised Muslims?


Qawwali maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's family has been bound to the shrine of Baba Farid Ganj Shakar for the past 800 years.

The family legend is that the Sufi saint blessed them with their heritage where generation after generation will perform the mystical music.
Every emerging Qawwal is duty bound to perform first at the shrine before launching a world career.
And two young boys are getting ready to follow in the family footsteps.
Brothers Kaif, 12, and Saif Ali Miandad Khan, 13, started to learn Qawwali music as soon as they could talk.
Their years of intensive training has been building up to one point - performing at the shrine for the first time.
Their mother Shumaila nervously taps her fingers in tune with the tempo as the brothers practice vocals alongside their father.
"We left everything behind, our lives in Karachi so my sons could do their sacred duty and perform here," she says.
"There are so many big names attending, this is the first stage that can make or break their careers."
Qawwali music is the words of Sufi saints set to music.
The spiritual songs are often in the form of a dialogue with God, kept in time to the beat of Eastern musical instruments such as the "Tabla" drums and harmonium.
It is based on the Sufi Islamic narrative of transcendence through music to make the ultimate link with the divine.
Before Qawwali became a secular and commercial genre through big names like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Sabri Brothers, it began as a spiritual music performance at Sufi shrines around Punjab.
Every year, thousands throng the 12th Century Sufi saint Baba Farid Ganj Shakar's tomb to mark the anniversary of his death.
He is celebrated as one of the first poets of the Punjabi language whose words form the original lyrics to the songs.
Most of the famous Qawwal "Gharaanas" or households hail from Pakpattan, in Pakistan's South Punjab province where Baba Farid's tomb is located.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's nephew, Ustad Mahboob Farid Akram Khan, is performing at the shrine to pay tribute.
His fingers slide over the harmonium at his feet, as he sings, the rhythm kept in time with the thunderous beat of the Tabla.
He is sweating but appears unaware, as his voice rises and swoops with the music.
He is offering up his songs in both gratitude and prayer.
"The shrine is both sacred and a school for Qawwals," says Ustad Mahboob.
"We grow up performing here, and even now, we must first gain the approval of our patron saint before composing new music or launching new projects. Baba Farid is the link that binds us all."
As he reaches his peak, the performer and the audience appear joined together by the music, in a hypnotic state.
Every few minutes, a member of the audience gets up and starts swaying and whirling to the beat, eyes closed, arms out-stretched.
One by one other people get up to dance in the aisles, almost as they would at a pop concert.
Their devotion re-affirms the popularity of the mystical side of Islam in a country where militancy and radical Islamic narratives often seem dominant.
But brothers Saif and Kaif have more pressing concerns as they take to the stage for the first time.
There are ancient rituals to be performed before they embark on foot towards the shrine.
Sacred prayers are said by the women of the family as Saif and Kaif are escorted from the house.
Their mother holds the Holy Quran over them and they bow their heads to pass under it.
They walk down a corridor where both walls are lined with portraits of their Qawwal ancestors and seek the blessing of their oldest Uncle, the famous Qawwal Sher Miandad Khan.
"We have grown up listening to the spiritual songs of my grandfather and uncles, it has always moved my heart," says Kaif Miandad.
"I know when I pray and perform at Baba Farid's he will make me a big star."
Finally they reach the performing grounds.
On the podium, a voice formally announces their arrival.
The boys straighten up and stand tall to start their performance, carrying their clan's legendary legacy on their small shoulders,
As their voices rise and their hands re-inforce the energy of their voices, they are showered with money and praise.
Other Qawwals throw a shawl over their shoulders as a mark of respect.
Listeners close their eyes and sway.
As it has done for hundreds of years, the shrine of their patron saint marks this moment for Kaif and Saif.
Two new Qawwals have been "born".


The race for the presidency is finally over.

"It's great, fantastic, I'm overwhelmed, it's a great time to be Nigerian," says research consultant Simi Fajemirokun in Abuja.
"This party that was only formed two years ago, that has beaten the ruling party. It's something we just never fathomed a few months ago.  But here we are, it's happened," she said.
This is a hugely significant moment in Nigeria's turbulent history. Never before has a sitting president been defeated in an election.
Since independence from Britain in 1960, there have been numerous coups and although the 2011 vote was an improvement, most elections have been rigged or even annulled by the military.
Of course in a relatively close election, there will be millions of people who are not pleased with the outcome. But the whole process is a sign that democracy is deepening in Nigeria and may be a tonic to other countries in Africa.
Nigerians can start to believe that it is possible to remove politicians through the ballot box.
Many Nigerians have been given a glimmer of hope that their politicians will now feel the need to be more accountable.
"For the first time there are clear repercussions for a certain type of governance," says writer Elnathan John.
"Everyone is excited. The gateman where I stay had a little booklet where he was writing out results, and that's something you wouldn't have seen last time," he says, adding that it would have been pointless.
There has been a great deal of concern over possible election violence as both sides were so hell-bent on winning this contest.
The man who has been voted out, Goodluck Jonathan, has played a huge part today in helping to prevent unrest.
He made the phone call to concede victory and to congratulate Muhammadu Buhari when a disputed outcome would have sent the country on a dangerous road.
"I promised the country free and fair elections. I have kept my word," he said later in a statement.
"I have also expanded the space for Nigerians to participate in the democratic process. That is one legacy I will like to see endure," he added, urging people with complaints to follow due process and not to go to the streets.
No doubt some in his camp would have preferred to dig their heels in.
In recent months there were fears that powerful political and even military personalities would connive to prevent this election from taking place at all.
The belief was if they could not ensure a Jonathan victory then they would not risk an election at all.
Five reasons why Goodluck Jonathan lost
Profile: Muhammadu Buhari
Profile: Goodluck Jonathan
First there was the six-week delay in the poll and then reports of plots to install an interim government or even declare a nationwide state of emergency to prolong the president's tenure. Anything but risk Gen Buhari winning.
So the fact that this election happened at all was already a victory for democracy.
There was also huge pressure on the head of the electoral commission Attahiru Jega.  He stood firm and will be credited as having played a huge role in the success of this poll.
The biometric card readers which were introduced to register voters may have been maligned for some technical glitches but they were pivotal in this election.
There were still efforts to rig the result but the new technology made it impossible to accept the ludicrously inflated turnouts and results which have been common in Nigeria.
As the final results were being announced, a former minister from the governing party, Godsday Orubebe, put on quite a show.
Live on TV he launched an embarrassing tirade, lambasting the electoral commission and its chairman Attahiru Jega, accusing him of being biased.
It felt like a desperate last ditch cry from a party that, having been in power since 1999, was struggling to face up to the reality of an imminent loss.
With the main candidates from different religions and opposite ends of the country, this poll has once again brought to the surface worrying religious and regional divisions which can be seen in some of the voting patterns.
"You can't deny that in many cases people have voted along religious lines.  You can see it in the areas where celebrations have been going on too," says Shehu Sani, who has just won the senatorial seat in the northern city of Kaduna.
"So Buhari has to run an all-inclusive government and heal the divisions," says the writer- and activist-turned-politician.
Mr John agrees that healing is still needed.
"There is a lot we have not spoken about in this country and the clear divisions have thrown this out into the public. We have settled many things in this country but I do not think we have sufficiently settled the fall out of the civil war," he says.
There is now a strange limbo period as Gen Buhari is not due to become president until the end of Mr Jonathan's term on 29 May.
He is known as a strong disciplinarian, but Gen Buhari may have his work cut out maintaining cohesion within the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He will also have to find roles for all of the disparate politicians, many of whom had little in common except a common desire to boot out the People's Democratic Party (PDP), and gain a political office themselves.
Some had jumped ship from the PDP, so their loyalty is already questionable.
Gen Buhari will face many challenges when he assumes office at the end of May - amongst them the jihadist insurgency in the north-east and an economy struggling with the drop in the price of oil.
"He will have a six months' grace period at most but his popularity will not be sustained if he is unable to secure electricity for the people and show progress in the fight against the insurgents and corruption," says Mr Sani.
After this historic election, the former military general will know the potency of the call for change could come back to bite him.


Mark Allen eased to a 4-0 victory over Ryan Day in the Bulgaria Open final to win his first title in 15 months.

The world number 10 from Antrim compiled breaks of 65, 76 and 56 against Welshman Day in Sofia.
The title earns Allen 25,000 euro and a place in the Champion of Champions event, which starts on Tuesday.
"I'm very happy to get another tournament win under my belt - to win 4-0 in the final shows my game is in good shape," said the 29-year-old.
Allen won seven matches in Bulgaria to secure his third ranking event success.
He will be back in action on Tuesday with a first-round game against Barry Hawkins at the Champion of Champions in Coventry.
"To get a place in the Champion of Champions is a massive bonus and I'll be going into it with a lot of confidence having won in Sofia." added Allen.
"I haven't been too happy with my performances this season even though I've been winning matches, but now I'm getting closer to where I want to be."


Nigeria has officially banned two militant Islamist groups, warning that anyone who helps them will face a minimum jail sentence of 20 years.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared Boko Haram and Ansaru to be terrorist groups, his office said.
The army has been waging an offensive against the militants in their northern strongholds since a state of emergency was declared last month.
The insurgency has killed about 2,000 people since 2009.
The activities of both Boko Haram and Ansaru would now fall under the Terrorism Prevention Act, Mr Jonathan's office said, in a statement.
It means that "any person who knowingly, in any manner, directly or indirectly", offers support to Boko Haram and Ansaru would be jailed for "not less than 20 years" if convicted, the statement added.
Boko Haram: From preachers to slave raiders
On Monday, the US said it was offering rewards for information on Islamist militants in West and North Africa.
The highest reward of up to $7m (Â£4.6m) is for information leading to the location of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, the state department said.
Boko Haram launched the insurgency in 2009, carrying out a wave of bombings and assassinations in north and central Nigeria.
Ansaru, which is suspected to be an off-shoot of Boko Haram, joined the insurgency in 2012, taking foreigners hostage.
It said it had killed seven European and Middle Eastern nationals abducted in February 2012 in the northern Bauchi state.
Last month, Mr Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the three main strongholds of the Islamist groups.
It led to the army launching a ground and air assault to flush out the militants.
Rights groups repeatedly accuse government troops of targeting innocent people after falsely accusing them of backing the militants.
The army denies the allegation.


Rebel fighters in east Aleppo have intensified their attempts to break the Syrian government's siege, ahead of what Russia says will be their last chance to leave the city in safety.

Many people have been killed or injured in rebel attacks on western, government-held areas.
Russia, a key ally of the Syrian government, says rebel fighters may leave with their weapons during a 10-hour window on Friday.
But rebels have rejected the offer.
They said they would not surrender and would continue their efforts to break the siege.
After the brief lull in fighting, Russian and Syrian warplanes are expected to resume bombing rebel areas, where about 250,000 people remain trapped and are enduring food shortages, price hikes and scant medical capacity as well as the bombing.
Government forces have been besieging the rebel-held east since July.
State media said on Thursday that at least 12 people had died in rocket fire, gunfire and car bombs in government-held western Aleppo.
They blamed the attack on rebels in the east of the city, and said at least 200 people were injured.
The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones in western Aleppo says that mortar fire both by rebels and pro-government forces has been in the air throughout Thursday and that parts of the west of the city - like many parts of the east - have been reduced to rubble.
In fighting on Thursday the rebels attacked government forces in several districts of Aleppo's western outskirts, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Meanwhile 300km (185 miles) to the north, a Russian helicopter was damaged by mortar fire while delivering aid, near Palmyra in Homs province, the country's military said.
It could not fly back to base but the crew were rescued and are safe.
The so-called Islamic State group may be behind the attack. It claimed to have shot down a Russian attack helicopter in Homs province in a strike which it said killed the crew.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a new unilateral pause in fighting in Aleppo on Wednesday, urging rebels to use the time to gather their things and leave.
Russia says that the president wants to avoid senseless bloodshed. Both Russia and Syria say they have not bombed eastern Aleppo for more than two weeks.
The Russian defence ministry says rebels can leave unharmed and with their weapons using two specially created corridors. Six other routes will be opened for civilians, the ministry says.
Previous attempts at humanitarian exit pauses have largely failed as the government and the rebels accuse each other of stopping people leaving.
The corridors would be open between 09:00 and 19:00 local time (06:00 and 16:00 GMT) on Friday, the army said.


Kilmarnock striker Josh Magennis has made a police complaint, alleging he was racially abused from a section of the Hearts support during Saturday's 1-0 defeat.

The incident originated in the Wheatfield stand at Tynecastle.
Both Premiership clubs told BBC Scotland they are aware of a complaint but would not comment further.
"We can confirm we have received a report of racial abuse," said a police spokesman. "Enquiries are ongoing."
It is not yet clear if the episode involves one fan or more.
Northern Ireland international Magennis, 25, is in his second season at Kilmarnock and has scored 10 goals this term.


A billion-pound potash mine proposed for near Whitby would cost the local tourism industry £10m a year during construction, a study has claimed.

The North York Moors National Park commissioned report has looked at the impact of the nearly five-year construction of the site.
Developers Sirius Minerals claimed the mine would create 1,000 direct jobs.
The park authority will make a decision on whether to grant permission for the mine at a meeting on 30 June.
Even after completion of the York Potash Project, consultants Amec Foster Wheeler believe it could cost a further £5m a year to the tourism industry.
The tourism sector is of key importance to the economy of the National Park and of Whitby, bringing in £177m - £104m of it to Whitby - in 2013, according to a separate report.
But a spokesman from York Potash said the company had already committed to contribute £500,000 a year during construction.
He said this would be split between Welcome to Yorkshire, the North York Moors National Park Authority, Visit England and Visit Britain, and was predicted to generate a return of £60.3m over the construction period.
York Potash said it would also double train services between Whitby and Middlesbrough, and give £400,000 for directional signage to the North York Moors National Park from main roads nearby.
Amec Foster Wheeler raised particular concerns about the volume of HGV traffic on the area's roads as a result of the mine.
The report said there was a "legitimate concern" that visitors may choose to go elsewhere if they know there is a major construction site.
Potash is a salt which contains potassium and is usually used in fertilisers.
Councillors at Redcar and Cleveland Council have already approved plans for the mine and mineral transport system but Sirius Minerals - which owns York Potash - still needs permission from the national park.
A tunnel planned to run underground from the Doves Nest Farm site to a processing plant at Teesside would be 37km long.


A sports and social club in west Belfast has been gutted in a suspected arson attack.

Police received a report that the building on Glen Road was on fire shortly after 21:00 GMT on Friday.
They said the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service extinguished the blaze but the building was "gutted".
Police said they were investigating the circumstances of the fire, but believed it was started deliberately.


A consultation has been launched into plans for a new six lane swimming pool in Hull.

The proposed Â£6m facility at Woodford Leisure Centre would see the closure of East Hull Pools on Holderness Road, which has been open since 1898.
The Hull City Council consultation is running until 5 January.
The local authority has said the new 25 metre pool would be more modern, energy efficient and less expensive to maintain and run.


Plans to restrict the role of Welsh MPs should be treated with caution, a former Welsh secretary has warned.

Clwyd West Tory MP David Jones said he backed proposals for "English votes for English laws" but it was important to define clearly what those issues were.
He said many of his constituents used public services in England and many voters there relied on Welsh hospitals.
The UK government said it was bringing about constitutional reform to serve people living in all parts of the UK.
The House of Commons rule changes would also limit some votes to English and Welsh MPs only.
Speaking during a Commons debate on the Queen's Speech, Mr Jones said of the policy: "I strongly approve of that commitment, since it will restore fairness that has been eroded in the wake of the 1999 bout of devolution.
"However...I say that we should treat that proposal with caution and what is most important is that defining what are English or English and Welsh issues is of paramount importance."
Mr Jones said many of his constituents used hospitals in the north west of England.
"The people of north Wales have an absolute right to expect that that their representatives in this place should be able to speak in this House on those issues that concern them."
He added: "I would say to my right honourable friends on the front bench that this is extremely important if the fairness that we seek to achieve by creating by English and Welsh votes for English and Welsh laws, or English votes for English laws, is not to be brought into disrepute."
Business Secretary Sajid Javid said: "As a one nation government we will revise the rules to make the law-making process fair - bringing about constitutional reform that serves people living in all parts of the United Kingdom.
"The introduction of English votes for English laws will do just that for England."
He was challenged by Delyn Labour MP David Hanson, who said he represented a part of Wales that uses English hospital services, transport, employment and airports.
"I want to know from you, why I can't speak or vote on those issues," he said.


A woman who was offered a free meal by an Audi garage which damaged her car ran up a £700 bill at a celebrated Michelin-starred London restaurant.

Siobhan Yap, 27, from Hertfordshire, treated her mother to dinner after her Audi A3 convertible was hit while parked on Watford Audi's forecourt.
Watford Audi agreed to pay for a meal for two, so Ms Yap headed to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Covent Garden.
Watford Audi said the £714.61 bill was "excessive", and offered to pay half.
In response, Ms Yap said that Audi should have "specified a price limit".
The garage repaired Ms Yap's car - which she had bought second-hand for £20,000 - after it was damaged by a delivery vehicle before she could pick it up from the forecourt.
Audi gave her a courtesy car and offered to cover the cost of a meal for two "for the inconvenience caused".
While at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Ms Yap and her mother enjoyed four glasses of champagne, two bottles of wine costing £69 each, six cocktails totalling £86 and a sloe gin.
The "small tasting dishes" they tried included one La Truffe Noire at £35, two St Jacques scallop dishes costing £29 each and two La Volatille risottos totalling £42.
Ms Yap told the JVS show on BBC Three Counties Radio that Audi should pay the whole bill because she had to send the car back for further repairs, and the cost was "relative to what they put me through and their customer service levels".
"They put me through a lot of stress and it was a really nice restaurant," Ms Yap said. "They should have specified a limit."
A Watford Audi spokesman said it was "excessive expenditure for two diners", but as it was "keen to make amends for the incident" it agreed to cover half the bill, equating to £357.
"We believe this is a fair and reasonable amount given the circumstances, and we stand by the decision taken," said the spokesman.
Etiquette expert William Hanson said the garage should have set an upper limit and should "learn a lesson" and "absorb the cost". But he said that "you don't need to perhaps drink that much if someone else is paying".
Source: L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon website


London Welsh were relegated from the Premiership as Bath ran in five tries to climb to third in the table.

Bath led 10-7 at the break with Rob Webber and Leroy Houston crossing for the visitors while Welsh responded through a Nic Reynolds converted try.
Sam Burgess scored Bath's third try after the break and Tom Homer kicked his first conversion of the match.
Houston and Alafoti Fa'osiliva added to the lead although Welsh at least had the final say with Opeti Fonua's try.
The defeat was Welsh's 18th straight loss in the Premiership as they make an immediate return to the Championship following their promotion last season.
It mirrors their fate in 2013, when they also lasted a single season in the top flight.
Bath, who close to within a point of Saracens as they chase a home tie in the play-offs, dominated early proceedings at a windswept Kassam Stadium with rain also making handling difficult.
Webber was first to cross, bundling over in the corner after a rolling maul from Bath but Homer failed to add the conversion. Soon after, Houston went over in the corner after a line-out went astray but the wind again disrupted Homer's conversion.
Welsh, who also lost Nathan Trevett to a yellow card before half-time, went into the break trailing by just three points with Reynolds going in under the posts.
Burgess scored Bath's third try, and only his second in rugby union, after the visiting team stole a Welsh throw at a line-out and with the wind behind him Homer kicked his first conversion for 17-7.
Houston scored his second try of the game with the number eight picking up from a scrum and forcing his way over as Bath earned a bonus point. An interception led to a fifth try soon after with Fa'osiliva the grateful recipient and Homer's conversion took the game further away to 29-7.
To their credit Welsh responded well to the set back and scored their second try of the game through Fonua with a catch and drive as Will Robinson's conversion made it 29-14.
There was a late yellow card for Dean Schofield but Bath were unable to add to their tally in the limited time remaining.
London Welsh head coach Rowland Phillips:  "We had a lot of positives today and we will be looking to build on that performance.
"The club is too proud just to switch off and accept defeat.
"There is always speculation and rumour at this time of the season, but the key thing is that you learn your lessons. We know we are relegated but our ambition to come back is greater than ever."
Bath head coach Mike Ford: "Our timing was out as we haven't played for three weeks. However, the conditions were terrible and we've got five points with no injuries, so I'm satisfied as it's now in our hands as far as the league table is concerned.
"We now have Leinster on our mind and next week will be a totally different spectacle as we are going out there to play.
"We will have our five internationals returning but they'll be favourites as they have 50,000 behind them and have their 12 internationals back. We are looking forward to it as we've come from nowhere in Europe to be in this position."
London Welsh: Jewell, Stegmann, Reynolds, May, Awcock, Roberts, R. Lewis, Trevett, Britton, Cooper, Schofield, Down, McCaffrey, Kirwan, Fonua.
Replacements: Robinson for Roberts (66), Gilding for Trevett (66), Morris for Britton (53), Aholelei for Cooper (66), West for Down (58), Thorpe for McCaffrey (33).
Not Used: Rowley, J. Lewis.
Sin Bin: Trevett (34), Schofield (80).
Bath: T. Homer, Rokoduguni, Burgess, Eastmond, Woodburn, Devoto, Young, Auterac, Webber, Palma-Newport, Hooper, Day, Fearns, Faosiliva, Houston.
Replacements: Banahan for Rokoduguni (47), Agulla for Eastmond (63), Sisi for Young (66), Obano for Auterac (68), Batty for Webber (61), Garvey for Day (46).
Not Used: Lahiff, Cook.
Att: 3,946


Norwegian scientists have put forward a new theory to explain the inspiration behind one of the most famous works of art ever produced.

The Scream (1892), by Edvard Munch, depicts a figure holding its face, which is making an agonised expression.
But look above this individual and the sky is full of colourful wavy lines.
The researchers say these are probably Mother of Pearl Clouds - rare phenomena that would have had a big impact on anyone who saw them for the first time.
"Today the general public has a lot more scientific information but you can imagine back in his day, he'd probably never seen these clouds before," said Helene Muri from the University of Oslo.
"As an artist, they no doubt could have made quite an impression on him."
Dr Muri was speaking here in Vienna at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly.
From Munch’s diary notes, 1890-1892
"I went along the road with two friends – the sun set
I felt like a breath of sadness -
The sky suddenly became bloodish red
I stopped, leant against the fence, tired to death - watched over the
flaming clouds as blood and sword the city - the blue-black fjord and the city
- My friends went away - I stood there shivering from dread - and
I felt this big, infinite scream through nature"
The unusual sky formation in The Scream has previously been ascribed to volcanic effects.
Just nine years before Munch's first rendering of The Scream, Krakatoa famously blew its top.
This eruption in what is now Indonesia was one of the biggest such events in recorded history, and its sulphurous emission circled the globe to generate some spectacular sunsets.
But the Norwegian group argues that the wavy shapes painted by Munch are a far better match for what are termed Polar Stratospheric (Type II) Clouds; or as they are also sometimes called - Nacreous Clouds.
Their rarity comes from the very particular conditions needed in their formation, at altitudes between 15km and 20km.
These requirements include not only very cold winter air, down at minus 80-85C, but a good degree of humidity as well.
Atmospheric flow up and over mountains helps because it can inject moisture from the troposphere into the stratosphere, followed by a process called adiabatic cooling that can then greatly reduce air temperatures.
"That's when you can get very small ice crystals of about one micrometer," explained Dr Muri.
"These clouds are very thin and are best seen just before sunrise and after sunset, when the sun is below the horizon.
"You get these very distinct colourings, from the combination of scattering, diffraction and internal refraction of the sunlight on these tiny ice crystals."
Dr Muri has lived in the Oslo area for 25 years. She says she has seen the iridescent clouds only once with her own eyes - and she knows precisely when and what to look for.
Such phenomena could have taken Munch completely by surprise, she believes.
The team first started investigating the possible link between the unusual meteorology and The Scream when consultant Svein Fikke observed a display of the clouds in 2014.
He managed to take a series of stunning photos, and then started delving deeper into the story.
Some very rare cloud types are reported to be increasing in frequency and distribution, perhaps due to climate change.
An example would be Noctilucent Clouds. These are the highest clouds on Earth, forming at altitudes of 80km and more. There is evidence to suggest they are becoming more visible at lower latitudes than used to be the case.
It is conceivable similar trends might occur with Nacreous Clouds, Dr Muri said, although no statistics can justify such a statement yet.
"We know that the troposphere is warming and expanding while the stratosphere above is compressing and cooling. So, the temperature characteristics of minus 80C and below might become commonplace in the future," she speculated.


Simone Biles missed out on a fourth gold at the Rio Olympics, winning bronze on the beam as the Netherlands' Sanne Wevers took gold.

Media playback is not supported on this device
American Biles, 19, slipped and put her hands on the beam during her routine.
Wevers, 24, became the first Dutch woman to win an Olympic gymnastics medal, while 16-year-old American Laurie Hernandez took silver.
Biles, who has won all-around, vault and team gold at Rio 2016, competes in the floor final on Tuesday.
Wever won with a score of 15.466, with Hernandez awarded 15.333 and Biles 14.733.
Find out how to get into gymnastics with our special guide.
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The NHS is considering preventing families from overriding the consent of people who have signed the organ donor register.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) says it wants to ensure a person's wish to donate is honoured if they die.
In a strategy document it also asks whether those on the organ donor register should receive higher priority on the transplant waiting list.
The strategy has the backing of the four UK health ministers.
It aims to build on the 50% increase in deceased donation rates since 2008.
NHSBT says it wants a "revolution in public attitudes and behaviour" so that individuals and families will be proud to support donation.
It says knowledge of organ donation remains low outside the NHS but this can be increased through education and publicity campaigns.
The aims of the strategy are to:
Almost everyone would accept a transplant organ if they needed one - but only 57% of families agree to donation when asked.
Grieving relatives sometimes overrule the wishes of patients who have signed the organ donor register - although this usually happens when families are not aware of a loved one's wishes.
NHSBT says a shift in behaviour is needed comparable to the changes achieved in preventing drink-driving or smoking cessation.
It says the UK will examine systems - such as in the US - where families  are not permitted to override pre-existing consent so people can be confident their pledge to donate will be respected.
Dr Paul Murphy, from NHSBT, said:  "When a family says no to donation it means someone's hopes of a life-saving transplant are dashed.  They need to understand the consequences of refusal."
Although there are more than 19.5 million people on the Organ Donor Register, most will die in circumstances where organ donation is not possible.
NHSBT says it should also be possible to increase the numbers of people who are able to donate by reviewing end-of-life care procedures.  One example is a pilot study in Scotland which gives the option of donation following cardiac arrest and failed resuscitation.
The strategy calls for a national debate on proposals to increase organ donation.  For example it wants to know whether the public would support a system similar to the one in Israel and Singapore where those on the organ donor register get higher priority if they ever need a transplant.
Sally Johnson, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHSBT said: "We need to have a serious debate in our society about our attitudes - is it fair to take if you won't give?  Is it acceptable that three people die a day in need of an organ?  Is it right to allow our organs to be buried or cremated with us when they could save or improve the lives of up to nine people?"
Last week the Welsh assembly voted to change to law to bring in an opt-out system of organ donation in 2015.    Wales will be only UK country where individuals will be presumed to have consented for their organs to be donated unless they opt out.
There are around 7,300 people in the UK waiting for a transplant. Last year there were 1,212 deceased donors.
NHSBT says the waiting list "considerably under-represents the true number of people who could benefit from an organ transplant".
It says evidence suggests the demand for transplants is likely to continue to increase in years to come.
BMA response to UK wide strategy on organ donation
Dr Tony Calland, chair of the British Medical Association's ethics committee, said donation should become a natural and expected event.
He added: "The BMA believes the best way to achieve this is through the introduction of an opt-out system for organ donation, similar to that planned for Wales from 2015.
"We need to monitor the situation in Wales but we cannot wait until 2015 to take action, we should be encouraging an informed public debate about opt-out now so that once the data are available we are ready to move forward in other parts of the UK."


Ukraine's defence minister says a new ceasefire has been holding in eastern Ukraine since midnight, despite a recent intensification of shelling.

"This morning I'm pleasantly surprised that at 09:00 (06:00 GMT), since midnight, we haven't had a single shot fired," Stepan Poltorak said.
It is the first time there has been a true halt to fighting in 11 months, says BBC correspondent Tom Burridge.
The truce was agreed with pro-Russian rebels and international mediators.
It marks the start of a new school year in Donetsk and Luhansk.
Eastern Ukraine has seen some of its worst violence for months in recent weeks, and there was heavy shelling last weekend.
On Monday international monitors from the OSCE security organisation reported nearly 1,000 explosions in the Donetsk region in just 24 hours - a big spike in fighting along the front line.
Most took place in an area north of Donetsk airport and between the villages of Avdiivka and Yasynuvata.
The neighbouring Luhansk region also saw a big increase in the number of blasts at the weekend.
Ukraine says massive Russian military exercises near the border have exacerbated tension.
Meanwhile, the UK government has added its voice to international appeals for Russia to release a Crimean Tatar leader, Ilmi Umerov, from a psychiatric unit and give him the medical care he needs. He is reported to be suffering from diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
Russia has prosecuted several key Crimean Tatar activists since its annexation of Crimea in March 2014. The Muslim Tatars, like the Ukrainian government, view Russia's annexation as a flagrant breach of international law.
Crimean Tatars uneasy under Russia rule
Why are Russia-Ukraine tensions high over Crimea?
On Wednesday Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said France and Germany - the Western powers that brokered a peace deal in Minsk in February 2015 - had backed Ukraine's call for a ceasefire starting on 1 September.
He said he was awaiting a response from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of arming the rebels and sending Russian regular troops to help them.
The Kremlin denies deploying troops, but admits that Russian volunteers have been fighting alongside the rebels.
A spokeswoman for Ukraine's delegation to the ceasefire talks, Darya Olifer, said more than 150,000 children were attending school in Ukrainian-held areas of Donbass, the industrial region that includes Donetsk and Luhansk.
"We insist that all children in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, wherever they live, have a right to care and security," she said.
More than 9,500 people - including many civilians - have been killed in the two regions since the pro-Russian insurgents took over a large swathe of territory in April 2014.
Despite the ceasefire agreed in Minsk in February 2015, there have been violations by both sides on an almost daily basis.


Whatever else he achieved during his six years in power, David Cameron, who quit as prime minister in July and has now announced he is to step down as an MP, will forever be remembered as the man who took Britain out of the European Union.

It is a strange epitaph for a political leader who once vowed to stop his party "banging on about Europe" and it is hardly the way he would have wanted to go down in history.
He led the Conservative Party for nearly 11 years - only Stanley Baldwin, Lady Thatcher and Sir Winston Churchill spent longer in the job in modern times - returning them to power after more than a decade in the political wilderness.
When he burst on to the scene in 2005, beating better-known rivals to the party leadership, he wanted to be seen as a new kind of Conservative, young, liberal-minded, socially concerned and, above all, modern.
There would be no place in Cameron's Conservative Party for the toxic rows about the European Union that had brought the party to the brink of destruction under previous leaders.
Instead, there would be a positive, upbeat, inclusive vision of Britain. He spoke of making the Conservatives the party of the NHS and the environment and of "sharing the proceeds of growth" with the less well-off.
One of his proudest early achievements was to get a round of applause from a Conservative conference audience for civil partnerships.
When the 2008 banking crisis hit, his tone changed - the social reforms were still there but they were accompanied by a more traditional Conservative focus on balancing the books through public spending cuts. He always refused to see a contradiction between the two goals, arguing that the country could do "more with less".
A self-styled pragmatist, who claimed to be suspicious of ideology, Mr Cameron was always able to trim his positions to suit the times.
It was this flexibility that enabled him to form alliances with political opponents, most notably with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, in the first coalition government since the war, and later when he shared platforms with Labour figures during the referendum campaign.
But it was a quality that bred suspicion and, in the end, outright hostility among his more ideologically pure Conservative colleagues, who wondered what, if anything, he stood for.
His privileged background also became a source of resentment for some in his party, who preferred their leaders in the grammar-school educated, self-made mould of a Thatcher or Major.
Mr Cameron was the first Conservative leader since the early 1960s to have attended one of Britain's top fee-paying schools, Eton, and he can trace his ancestry back to William IV, making him a distant relative of the Queen.
He never made a secret of his privileged background, saying he wanted everyone in Britain to have the kind of advantages in life that he had had.
It only became an issue earlier this year when his late father Ian was named as a one-time client of Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based firm at the centre of a tax avoidance scandal.
Mr Cameron was eventually forced to publish his tax returns, a first for a British prime minister, which showed he had received a Â£200,000 gift from his mother, which could potentially avoid inheritance tax.
Seeing his beloved father traduced in the media was painful for Mr Cameron, who had always spoken with admiration of his fighting spirit.
Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, was born with severely deformed legs, which he eventually had to have amputated. He also lost the sight in one eye, but David's father said he never considered himself "disabled" and rarely complained about anything.
David Cameron has said he had a happy childhood, but one where "whingeing was not on the menu".
"I'm a practical person, and pragmatic. I know where I want to get to, but I am not ideologically attached to one particular method," December 2005.
"I'm going to be as radical a social reformer as Mrs Thatcher was an economic reformer," August 2008.
"I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative," July 2013.
"I hope they'd say I'm optimistic, I enjoy life and that I'm fun. But also that I'm quite driven in doing what I believe in," on what his friends would say about him, February 2015.
"We will govern as a party of one nation, one United Kingdom. That means ensuring this recovery reaches all parts of our country, from north to south, to east to west," May 2015.
The third of four children, he was born on 9 October 1966 in London and spent the first three years of his life in Kensington and Chelsea before the family moved to an old rectory near Newbury, in Berkshire.
Mr Cameron's mother, Mary, served as a Justice of the Peace for 30 years. During her time on the bench she passed judgement on the Greenham Common protesters, including on one occasion her own sister and eco-warrior Swampy, who was protesting against the construction of the Newbury bypass.
At the age of seven, the young Cameron was packed off to Heatherdown, an exclusive preparatory school, which counted Princes Edward and Andrew among its pupils. Then, following in the family tradition, came Eton.
He has described his 12 O-levels as "not very good", but he gained three As at A-level, in history, history of art and economics with politics.
His biggest mention in the Eton school magazine came when he sprained his ankle dancing to bagpipes on a school trip to Rome.
Before going to Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics he took a gap year, working initially for Sussex Conservative MP Tim Rathbone, before spending three months in Hong Kong, working for a shipping agent, and then returning by rail via the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
At Oxford, he avoided student politics because, according to one friend from the time, Steve Rathbone, "he wanted to have a good time".
He was captain of Brasenose College's tennis team and a member of the Bullingdon dining club, famed for its hard drinking and bad behaviour, a period Mr Cameron has always refused to talk about.
He has also consistently dodged the question of whether he took drugs at university.
"He's not someone - and most Englishmen aren't - who talks freely and easily in the open-hearted Oprah-esque fashion that some do but he's extremely good company," friend and ministerial colleague Michael Gove in 2010
"He's always been incredibly strong, and kind, and supportive," Samantha Cameron, wife
"In good times and in bad, he's just the kind of partner that you want at your side.  I trust him.  He says what he does, and he does what he says," US President Barack Obama.
"If there was an Olympic gold medal for chillaxing he would win it," Cameron ally quoted in Francis Elliott and James Hanning biography.
"Though possessed of a first-class mind, Cameron is not a reflective politician. He rarely agonises over a problem, preferring to resolve dilemmas as quickly and pragmatically as he can, generally with a group of close allies," political journalist Matthew D'Ancona.
But he evidently did not let his extra-curricular activities get in the way of his studies.
His tutor at Oxford, Prof Vernon Bogdanor, describes him as "one of the ablest" students he has taught, whose political views were "moderate and sensible Conservative".
After gaining a first-class degree, he briefly considered a career in journalism or banking, before answering an advertisement for a job in the Conservative Research Department.
Conservative Central Office is reported to have received a telephone call on the morning of his interview in June 1988, from an unnamed man at Buckingham Palace, who said: "I understand you are to see David Cameron.
"I've tried everything I can to dissuade him from wasting his time on politics but I have failed. I am ringing to tell you that you are about to meet a truly remarkable young man."
Music: Bob Dylan and indie rock such as The Killers, The Smiths, Radiohead and Pulp.
Books: Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves, Cider With Rosie, by Laurie Lee
Films: Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather
TV: Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Killing
Leisure time: Karaoke, playing computer games
Sport: Playing tennis, snooker, running, watching cricket. Supports Aston Villa football club, although he got mixed up during the general election campaign and said West Ham
Mr Cameron says he did not know the call was being made or who made it, but it is sometimes held up by his opponents as an example of his gilded passage to the top.
As a researcher, Mr Cameron was seen as hard-working and bright. He worked with future shadow home secretary David Davis on the team briefing John Major for Prime Minister's Questions, and also hooked up with George Osborne, who would go on to be his chancellor and closest political ally.
Other colleagues, in what became known as the "brat pack" were Steve Hilton, who was one of Mr Cameron's closest strategy advisers during his early days in Downing Street, and future Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.
These young researchers were credited with devising the attack on Labour's tax plans that unexpectedly swung the 1992 general election for John Major.
But the remainder of Mr Cameron's time as a backroom boy in the Conservative government was more turbulent.
He was poached by then Chancellor Norman Lamont as a political adviser, and was at Mr Lamont's side throughout Black Wednesday, which saw the pound crash out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
By the early 1990s, Mr Cameron had decided he wanted to be an MP himself, but he also knew it was vital to gain experience outside of politics.
So after a brief spell as an adviser to then home secretary Michael Howard, he took a job in public relations with ITV television company Carlton.
Mr Cameron spent seven years at Carlton, as head of corporate communications, travelling the world with the firm's boss Michael Green, who described him as "board material".
He went part-time from his job at Carlton in 1997 to unsuccessfully contest Stafford at that year's general election. Four years later, in 2001, he won the safe Conservative seat of Witney, in Oxfordshire, recently vacated by Shaun Woodward, who had defected to Labour.
Samantha Cameron, the daughter of Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet, worked as the creative director of upmarket stationery firm Smythson of Bond Street, which counts Stella McCartney, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell among its clients. She has been credited with transforming her husband's staid "Tory boy" image.
She has a tattoo on her ankle and went to art school in Bristol, where she says she was taught to play pool by rap star Tricky.
The couple were introduced by Mr Cameron's sister Clare, Samantha's best friend, at a party at the Cameron family home. They were married in 1996.
They have three children, Nancy, Arthur, and Florence, who was born shortly after the family moved into Downing Street.
Their first child, Ivan, who was born profoundly disabled and needed round-the-clock care, died in February 2009.
The experience of caring for Ivan and witnessing at first hand the dedication of NHS hospital staff, is said by friends to have broadened Mr Cameron's horizons. He had, friends say, led an almost charmed life, to that point.
On entering Parliament in 2001, Mr Cameron rose rapidly through the ranks, serving first on the Home Affairs Select Committee, which recommended the liberalisation of drug laws.
He was taken under the wing of Michael Howard, who put him in charge of policy co-ordination and then made him shadow education secretary. He also had the key role of drafting the 2005 Conservative election manifesto.
But when he entered the race to succeed Mr Howard as party leader in 2005 few initially gave him a chance. He was a distant fourth at the bookmakers behind Ken Clarke, Liam Fox and frontrunner David Davis.
It took an eye-catching conference speech, delivered without notes, in what would become his trademark style, to change the minds of the party faithful.
A few may have had second thoughts, when in the early months of his leadership he spoke about how some young offenders just needed love (caricatured by his opponents as his "hug a hoodie" speech) and was pictured with huskies in the Arctic Circle on a trip to investigate climate change.
The media, eager for a new story after years of Tory failure and with an increasingly unpopular Labour government, gave him the glowing coverage he craved, helping him to "decontaminate" the Tory brand and move the party back towards the centre ground, where, the conventional wisdom has it, British elections are won and lost.
He was rewarded with big poll leads - but the financial crisis forced Mr Cameron to ditch much of his upbeat rhetoric, in favour of a more sober, even gloomy, approach, warning voters they faced tough times and spending cuts ahead.
During the course of the 2010 general election campaign, he watched much of his poll lead evaporate, with the rise of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, a man with a similar background and smooth, telegenic manner.
What's more, his big idea in 2010, the Big Society, the fruit of detailed policy work stretching back to the early days of his leadership, which envisaged parents setting up their own schools and groups of public sector workers forming co-operatives, failed to capture voters' imagination in the way he had hoped.
Mr Clegg was the surprise victor in the first televised prime ministerial debate ever held in Britain - an innovation Mr Cameron had pushed hard for - and although the Lib Dem leader's advantage had largely disappeared by polling day, the election ended without a clear winner.
Despite gaining 97 seats, the Conservatives' biggest increase in decades, Mr Cameron fell just short of the majority he needed to form a government and was forced into coalition talks with Mr Clegg's Liberal Democrats.
At 43, Mr Cameron was the youngest prime minister since Robert Banks Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool in 1812. He was six months younger than Tony Blair when he entered Downing Street in 1997.
His Chancellor George Osborne, was even younger - the two had formed a close bond from their early days as MPs and would govern very much as a team, like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had done during the Labour years, but without the bitter rivalry and personal rancour.
Cameron and Osborne became so closely associated with each other, with the chancellor being groomed to succeed Mr Cameron when the time came, that they came to be known by the critics who were excluded from their tight inner circle by one word: Camborne.
The coalition they formed with Mr Clegg functioned better than anyone expected, managing to complete a full five-year term and introduce sweeping changes to the education system, the NHS, the benefits system, pensions and much else besides.
Mr Clegg and his party took a big hit in the opinion polls, and would eventually lose most of their MPs, over unpopular coalition policies such as the massive cuts to public spending aimed at paying off the deficit and increasing university tuition fees.
Mr Cameron, on the other hand, earned praise for his statesmanlike handling of set-piece events, such as his Commons statement on the Bloody Sunday inquiry, and his ability to look and sound "prime ministerial" when the occasion demanded it.
To the surprise of many, possibly including himself, the greatest difficulties he encountered were not in managing the coalition with the Lib Dems but with keeping control of the increasingly vocal and rebellious right-wing of his own party, who hated their party's alliance with Mr Clegg and were beginning to agitate for a referendum on remaining in the EU.
In August 2013, he suffered a major blow to his authority when he became the first prime minister in more than 100 years to lose a foreign policy vote, after dozens of Conservative MPs joined forces with Labour to block his plans for military intervention in Syria.
But perhaps the biggest crisis of his premiership came in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014, when he cancelled Prime Minister's Questions to rush north of the border in an effort to save the Union, after a poll suggested the Yes campaign would win.
He was later forced to issue an apology to the Queen, after he was overheard telling New York mayor Michael Bloomberg Her Majesty had "purred down the line" when he informed her that Scotland had rejected independence.
For some, his handling of the referendum issue, by offering last-minute concessions to the nationalists, added to the idea of Mr Cameron as an "essay crisis" prime minister, who only gets fully engaged with an issue when all seems lost.
Mr Cameron had agreed to a referendum thinking it would settle the issue of Scottish independence once and for all - similar logic that led him to promise a referendum on Britain's continued membership of the EU, in January 2013.
Both decisions, in their different ways, would prove to be spectacular misjudgements.
When he made the EU referendum promise, the Conservatives were losing support to the UK Independence Party, a Eurosceptic outfit he had once airily dismissed as a collection of "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".
Europe was not the issue it might have been at the 2015 general election had he not promised a referendum, and, in the end, UKIP only managed to win one seat.
But it was Mr Cameron's warnings to voters not to put the economy at risk by voting Labour that appears to have had the biggest impact, despite critics carping that he was running a negative, fear-based campaign.
The polls suggested another hung Parliament, but Mr Cameron proved the polls wrong and won a slender majority of his own - forming the first Conservative-only government since Sir John Major's in 1992.
He moved quickly to exploit the disarray in the Labour Party, following the election of unknown and untested left winger Jeremy Corbyn as leader, to position the Conservatives as a moderate, "one nation" force and the "party of working people", with a view to securing it in government for a generation.
This was starkly at odds, said critics, with his government's renewed commitment to austerity, but Mr Cameron was also keen to secure a legacy of social reform, with plans to improve the "life chances" of ethnic minorities and the socially disadvantaged.
His honeymoon period was short-lived, however, as his government suffered a string of defeats at the hands of his own backbenchers, most notably over Chancellor George Osborne's plans to cut disability benefits.
And his decision to go for an early referendum saw him pitched into a round of shuttle diplomacy with fellow European leaders, as he attempted to put together a new deal aimed at keeping Britain in the EU.
He placed himself front and centre of the negotiations and the referendum campaign that followed - his use of the personal pronoun was striking, it was always "my referendum". The deal he returned was, predictably, dismissed by critics as falling far short of what he had promised, particularly on the issue of the free movement of people.
But Mr Cameron insisted the curbs on welfare payments he had wrung out of the other EU leaders would help control immigration - and the man who had insisted he would "rule nothing out" if he did not get what he wanted from Brussels was now transformed into a passionate advocate for Britain's continued membership of the EU.
It was a shift in position too far for many in his party, the majority of whom wanted Britain out of the EU.
And despite returning them to power months earlier, they were in no mood to be told what to do by Mr Cameron. He was forced to suspend collective cabinet responsibility, allowing ministers to campaign for either side in the referendum, even though the government's official position was for Britain to remain in the EU.
Former London Mayor Boris Johnson, a former schoolmate at Eton, who had long been seen as positioning himself to take over as leader and prime minister from Mr Cameron, dealt him an early blow by joining the Leave campaign.
But what was more bruising for the prime minister was that Justice Secretary Michael Gove, one of his closest friends and allies, decided to campaign for Leave.
Despite early promises that they would remain civil to each other, the campaign unleashed the kind of brutal civil war at the top of the Conservative Party that Mr Cameron had spent his entire career trying to prevent.
And although he had promised during the campaign to stay on as prime minister whatever the result of the referendum, it turned out to be a forlorn hope.
After leaving Downing Street, Mr Cameron initially suggested he was keen to remain as an MP until 2020 at least - noting that he had plenty of experience that he wanted to impart and Parliament was the poorer when senior figures took their leave.
He even made a surprise appearance on the Commons backbenches to support his successor Theresa May in a vote on the Trident nuclear deterrent.
However, after a "period of reflection" over the summer, he announced he would be standing down and leaving frontline politics for good - saying that for him to remain in Parliament would be an "enormous distraction and diversion" to Mrs May.
He leaves Westminster having succeeded in changing the Conservative Party in many ways, recruiting more women and ethnic minority MPs, and having got the party back into government from what had looked a fairly hopeless position in 2005.
But he never managed to win over its powerful right wing, who mistrusted his liberal brand of Conservatism and what they saw as his elitist, patrician style of government.
It was this, allied to his fateful decision to try and settle the toxic issue of Europe by taking it head on, that proved to be his undoing in the end.


The stepfather of beaten and starved Daniel Pelka refused hospital treatment because he feared he would be recognised, a report says.

Mariusz Krezolek, 36, died of a heart attack in January 2016 at Full Sutton prison in Yorkshire after complaining of chest pains but refusing help.
He was given a life sentence in 2013 after being convicted of murdering Daniel in Coventry.
Daniel's mother, Magdalena Luczak, was found hanged in her cell in July 2015.
She was also found guilty of Daniel's murder and the pair were ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years each.
Krezolek also tried twice to kill himself after Luczak's suicide at HMP Foston Hall, the report by the Prisons Ombudsman into his death found.
It said he had been treated for a fistula and inflammatory bowel disease but refused to go to hospital as he was afraid he would be recognised.
He also refused to be admitted to the prison's inpatient unit.
On 27 January last year he complained of chest paints but again refused to go to the healthcare unit. He was found unresponsive in his cell the next morning and confirmed dead a little while later.
The cause of death was given as a heart attack.
The report also reveals Krezolek twice tried to kill himself after Luczak killed herself at HMP Foston Hall.
Daniel Pelka weighed just over a stone and a half at the time of his death in March 2012.
He had been denied food, poisoned with salt, locked in a small room, forced to perform punishment exercises and subjected to water torture.
The trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard experts said Daniel's emaciation was "unprecedented" in Britain.
The trial judge said his mother and stepfather had acted with "incomprehensible brutality" towards him, causing the boy "severe physical and mental suffering".


The assembly's presiding officer has called for a debate on lowering the voting age in Welsh elections to 16.

Rosemary Butler told the BBC's Sunday Politics Wales show that the Isle of Man and Jersey had introduced the change.
She wants youth councils and forums for young people to consider the change from the current age of 18.
In Scotland the SNP Government wants 16 and 17-year-olds to take part in the referendum on independence there.
"Some people are a bit afraid of it, and other people think - I've got a job at 16, I'm paying tax so I should be able to vote," Mrs Butler said.
She added that it is a very interesting debate and that she hoped more people will take part in it.
"They're (16-year-olds) certainly up to it, whether they've got the confidence to do it, that might be a different matter, but then that goes for the whole of the population.
"If we encourage everybody to vote, then we'd have a true mandate," she said.
Kay Swinburne, Conservative MEP for Wales said she would rather a "broader" look was taken at voting patterns, as at the moment 18-24 year-olds are at the "poorer end of the spectrum" when it comes to turning out to vote.
"What we need to do is encourage everyone to use their democratic right," she added.
Throughout Europe only Austria had lowered the voting age since 2007, she said.
North Wales Liberal Democrat AM, Aled Roberts, said his party was in favour of lowering the voting age.
"But we need to get people to understand that voting for the assembly is important... that a vote can make a difference," he added.


Hull City goalkeeper David Marshall will miss the start of the new season after suffering ankle ligament damage.

The Scotland international, 32, picked up the injury during the club's training camp in Portugal on Wednesday.
Hull, relegated from the Premier League least season, open their Championship campaign with games against Aston Villa, Burton, Wolves, QPR and Bolton.
"It was a very unfortunate injury," new head coach Leonid Slutsky told Hull's website.
"We expect to be without him for a maximum time of about six weeks."
Hull's other senior goalkeepers are Eldin Jakupovic, 32, and Allan McGregor, 35.


Martin McGuinness has said there are "very serious questions" about what capacity Peter Robinson was acting in with regard to the Nama loan sale.

The deputy first minister was giving evidence to the finance committee.
Mr McGuinness said he was not told about meetings and contacts between Nama, bidders for its NI portfolio and DUP ministers.
The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) sold its NI loan book to a US investment fund.
A Stormont inquiry began after it was claimed a Northern Ireland politician was to get a payment as a result of the sale.
Nama: The key figures and background you need to know
Timeline of Nama's NI property deal
Mick Wallace, an independent politician in the Republic of Ireland, made the claim about a Northern Irish politician in the Irish parliament.
Deputy First Minster Martin McGuinness told Stormont's finance committee it was "totally, absolutely misleading" for the DUP to say he was being kept informed about a bid for the portfolio from the Pimco investment fund.
He said Mr Robinson did at some point tell him Pimco had bid and subsequently withdrawn, but not the detail.
Mr McGuinness was "gobsmacked" to learn the former US Vice President Dan Quayle visited Stormont to meet Mr Robinson and he was not told.
Mr Quayle is now chairman of Cerberus Global Investments the US fund which bought the Nama loans.
Asked whether he should have been kept up to speed about meetings in which Mr Robinson was acting as first minister, Mr McGuinness said that led to his concerns.
"It raises very serious questions in relation to what capacity the first minister was acting," he said.
"Because if I wasn't aware of these engagements taking place, then it clearly suggests that the first minister was in consort with the minister for finance and personnel, who was from the DUP party, was involved in an enterprise, which also involved Michael Noonan (Irish Finance Minister), without my knowledge, in terms of the meetings that were taking place."
DUP committee member Jim Wells put it to Mr McGuinness that a memorandum of understanding (mutually agreed conditions for a deal), which had been sent from the first minister's office in regard to a possible deal, had been shared with Sinn FÃ©in.
Mr Wells said the relevant documents had been sent to a senior Sinn FÃ©in advisor, Dara O'Hagan.
Mr McGuinness reiterated that the memorandum of understanding was not shared with him.
"It's quite clear what's going on here, that what you're doing is trying to distance yourself from a deal," Mr Wells said.
"You didn't try to distance yourself at the time. But now that you see perhaps there's some controversy, you are frantically trying to row yourself back from decisions that you are fully aware of."
The finance committee invited DUP Leader Peter Robinson to give evidence.
Before hearing evidence from Mr McGuinness, the finance committee discussed whether loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson should be allowed to give evidence in public or private.
Mr Bryson had contacted the committee to claim he had evidence about the deal.
He claims he has primary documentation and therefore should be heard in public.
MLAs voted to hold a preliminary public session with Mr Bryson to allow them to assess if Mr Bryson met their criteria to give his evidence in a full public session.
Appearing at the preliminary session, Mr Bryson threatened to seek a judicial review if his evidence is not heard in public.
He said he was conscious that he did not want to stray into any area of evidence that the committee did not want him to and said he would make "no wild allegations or innuendo".
Mr Bryson said he could stand over all the evidence he would provide.
"I believe my evidence will uncover an intricate web of political and financial behaviours that will show how there is an epidemic of cash-for-influence scams within the political, business, banking, accountancy and property development professions," he said.
Following his submission, MLAs voted to allow Mr Bryson to give his evidence in an open session.
Last week, MLAs decided witnesses who cannot demonstrate a "direct link" to parties at the centre of the inquiry should be heard behind closed doors.
Their evidence would be published at a later stage and could be partly redacted.
Cerberus, which bought the loans from Nama, has denied that any improper or illegal payments were made on its behalf.
Nama says the sales process was "robust, competitive and secured the best outcome for the Irish taxpayer".


Diesel cars are taking a right hammering at the moment.

Dirty engines spewing out noxious fumes that are polluting our cities causing all manner of health problems is the principal charge laid out in various reports splashed across the media this summer.
Questions have even been asked about the previously unchallenged assumption that diesel engines produce less carbon dioxide (CO2) than their petrol counterparts and are, therefore, better for the environment.
But how bad is the problem and why isn't more being done to address it?
In a word, pollution, which has severe consequences for everyone's health.
A number of studies have shown that diesel cars, unlike petrol cars, spew out high levels of what are known as nitrogen oxides and dioxides, together called NOx. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is particularly nasty - recent studies have shown it can cause or exacerbate a number of health conditions, such as inflammation of the lungs, which can trigger asthma and bronchitis, and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
In many European cities, NO2 levels are well above European Union legal limits - twice the limit in parts of London, Paris and Munich, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Diesel vehicles are the single biggest contributor to these high levels of NO2.
No - particulate matter, which is belched out from diesel exhausts, has been shown to cause cancer. This has long been recognised, and modern diesel cars are fitted with extremely effective filters that stop almost all of this carcinogenic soot from escaping into the atmosphere.
But there are two problems. First, a lot of people remove these filters to improve fuel economy and performance. A number of specialist companies advertise removing them and it's not illegal to do so, although your car should fail its MOT without one.
Second, NO2 forms something called secondary particulate matter when it enters the atmosphere, the effects of which are not yet fully understood.
Studies suggest that air pollution as a whole causes hundreds of thousands of premature deaths in Europe.
When you consider that road transport, and diesel in particular, contribute a meaningful chunk, the gravity of the problem becomes immediately clear.
Indeed a recent study put the number of premature deaths in the UK attributed specifically to NO2 at 23,500.
The number of people generally affected by health problems will, of course, be much greater.
And the economic cost must not be underestimated. According to the latest figures available from the OECD, premature deaths and ill health caused by air pollution cost the UK $86bn (Â£56bn) in 2010.
Across OECD countries, the body says road transport accounts for half the total economic cost. Of course this cannot all be laid at the door of diesel engines.
We've always been told that diesel cars are better for the environment because they emit less CO2. This is simply because diesel engines are more efficient than petrol engines, so use less fuel to travel the same distance. Less fuel should mean lower emissions.
But industry data shows that average CO2 emissions from diesel cars are only fractionally lower than those from petrol cars.
This is largely due to the fact that diesel cars tend to be bigger and heavier than petrol cars, so any advantages in efficiency are wiped out. Equally, diesel fuel has more carbon than petrol for the same volume, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) - burning one litre of diesel produces 12% more CO2 than burning one litre of petrol, it says.
Petrol engines have also become far more efficient in recent years.
For its part, the car industry itself says diesel takes longer to burn so you use less, and argues that of course emissions would be greater from larger cars. It maintains that when comparing like-for-like models, diesels do emit noticeably less CO2 than their petrol counterparts.
Good question, especially when you consider that diesel cars emit far more pollutants than they should. Just how much more is quite shocking, according to some studies.
Tests conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) show that modern diesel cars emit on average seven times the EU limit for NOx.
Another study published by green transport think-tank Transport & Environment and supported by data from Emissions Analytics, suggests that about nine in every ten new diesel cars exceed the limit. It showed that of the 24 cars tested, only three cars - an Audi A5, a VW Golf and a BMW 3-series - complied with EU regulations. At the other end of the scale, an Audi A8 emitted 22 times the limit.
The reason is very simple. Limits are based on tests conducted in laboratories where conditions do not reflect driving out on the open road.
The car industry says it has done a great deal already, reducing both particulate matter and NOx emissions significantly over the past few years. And the UK leads the way in Europe, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says. It also acknowledges that the current way of testing "is outdated and the discrepancy does the industry no favours", while agreeing that real-world tests are needed.
But it also seems carmakers could do a lot more. The ICCT says the technologies for real-world clean diesels already exist, but are not being used consistently by manufacturers. Transport & Environments says it's simply a question of cost - carmakers save about Â£220 a car by not using additional clean technologies.
And the US experience suggests it may have a point. There, a concerted effort by carmakers and government agencies to clean up diesel vehicles has resulted in massive reductions in NOx, particulate matter and sulphur.
European regulators are in discussions with carmakers about the introduction of real-world testing. They want to bring these tests in by 2017, but they need the agreement of all member states. Carmakers would prefer more time.
Rather bizarrely, the new limits are likely to be less stringent than the current limits, to reflect real-world testing.
But individual countries are beginning to act. The UK is one of six European countries potentially facing hefty fines if it doesn't get NO2 levels down by 2020.
To this end, the government launched a consultation document last weekend, suggesting that diesel drivers in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton could be limited driving into the city centre.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has already announced that diesel cars will be charged an extra Â£12.50 on top of the congestion charge from 2020 if they fail to meet emissions standards.
Charging diesel drivers higher taxes has also been mooted.
Not a great deal, unfortunately, but there are some things you can do that will help to reduce emissions, many of which apply to all cars, diesel and petrol: