While the government's problems were already serious, the difficulty for Campbell really began on 26 November. That day, a spill motion carried in the National party room. Bjelke-Petersen had not anticipated this party-room coup and did not even attend the meeting. He thus did not nominate for the ensuing leadership ballot, which was won by one of the dismissed ministers, Mike Ahern. In accordance with normal convention, Ahern wrote to Campbell seeking to be commissioned as premier in place of Bjelke-Petersen. This should have been a pro forma request, since the Nationals had a majority in their own right. However, Bjelke-Petersen touched off a constitutional crisis when he refused to resign his commission. Campbell refused to use his reserve power to terminate it after receiving legal advice that he should only dismiss Bjelke-Petersen and commission Ahern if Bjelke-Petersen lost a vote of no confidence. There were also fears that Bjelke-Petersen might advise Campbell to dissolve parliament and call elections. Some sections of the press attacked Campbell for his apparent inactivity during the crisis, while other voices within the legal and political world supported his course of action. As the "Sydney Morning Herald" had described this tense situation, Queensland now had a "Premier who is not leader" and the National Party a "Leader who is not Premier". The crisis only ended when Bjelke-Petersen retired from politics on 1 December. Campbell was later praised by many in the media for his handling of the situation.