2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election predecessor from 1987 until his resignation brought about the by-election, stood as the official Conservative Party candidate. He fought the campaign on the theme David Davis for Freedom. The English Democrats Party selected Joanne Robinson as its candidate. She previously stood as the United Kingdom Independence Party candidate for the same constituency in the 2001 general election. Blackpool based Hamish Howitt was one of two pub landlords who announced intentions to stand under the "Freedom to Choose" label, opposing the smoking ban in England. Shan Oakes was the Green Party candidate. She is also the party's candidate in the 2009
George Hargreaves (politician) Parliament election. Hargreaves also founded the Welsh Christian Party to contest the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007. Hargreaves stood for the Christian Party at the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008, where he asked the Haltemprice and Howden electorate to use their vote to demand a referendum on the European Union, which he believes to be "the greatest threat to our civil liberties". In August 2008, Hargreaves fronted the Channel 4 programme "Make Me a Christian". He had planned to stand in the Western Isles in the 2010 general election, but withdrew his candidacy in February 2010 after his wife's