Ms Billstrom was subsequently voted out of office, but seven months of freer-flowing roads had transformed implacable opposition into a vote admittedly a narrow one in favour of the charge.

ECONOMIST: Congestion charging comes to Manchester

Yet the symbolic contradiction has not been enough, so far, to shake Mr Howard's implacable opposition to a republic, even though the conservative Liberal Party, which he leads, is heading increasingly that way.

ECONOMIST: The republican rumble down under

Already abandoned by the Obama Administration, CLASS has no champion on Capitol Hill and is likely to fall victim to implacable Republican opposition and a lack of Democratic support.

FORBES: What Happens After CLASS?