2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election The 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election was a by-election held in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for constituency of Haltemprice and Howden. The by-election was triggered by the surprise and controversial resignation from the House of Commons of the sitting MP David Davis on 12 June 2008. Davis stated intention was to spark a wider public debate on the perceived erosion of civil liberties in the UK by recontesting his seat on this single issue platform, launched as the David Davis for Freedom campaign. The
2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election notably, at 26, the election saw a record number of candidates and a record number of independent candidates standing for an election in the UK. 23 of them, including all independents, lost their deposit, also a record. The Labour Party's decision not to put forward a candidate meant this was the first Great British by-election since the Bristol South East in 1963 (in which the Conservative Party did not stand) in which the governing party has not stood a candidate and the first Great British by-election without a Labour candidate since the Combined English Universities by-election, 1946. Davis's result saw