Haltemprice and Howden (UK Parliament constituency) Conservative David Davis, who had previously been the member for Boothferry; he was re-elected in the 2001, 2005 and 2010 general elections. The area was placed as 10th most affluent in the country in the 2003 Barclays Private Clients survey. On 12 June 2008, a day after a vote on the extension of detention of terror suspects without charge, in an unexpected move, Davis took the Chiltern Hundreds, effectively resigning his seat as the constituency's MP. He stated this was to force a by-election, in which he intended to provoke a wider public debate on the single issue of the
2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election unusual circumstances, the election broke several records, including the most candidates running in a UK parliamentary by-election — 26, the largest number of independents, the largest number of people losing their deposits and the best by-election results up to that point for the Green Party and English Democrats. While single issue by-elections such as this one were not unprecedented, they were rare in modern political times. As per election law, other candidates were free to stand on their chosen manifesto and not necessarily obliged to oppose or support Davis. Davis's use of a by-election in this way attracted both praise