David Davis by-election campaign, 2008 David Davis by-election campaign, 2008 The David Davis by-election campaign of 2008 was a political campaign against the erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom, led by the former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), David Davis, labelled by Davis as the David Davis For Freedom campaign. The campaign was initiated in June 2008, following Davis's surprise resignation as an MP and from his position as the Shadow Home Secretary, and was the platform he used in standing for re-election to his seat in the subsequent Haltemprice and Howden by-election. Davis subsequently won his seat back with 72% of the
2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election constituency for the Conservatives since its creation in 1997, and previously held the predecessor seat of Boothferry from 1987. The area of the seat, variously covered in the past by parts of Boothferry, Howden, Haltemprice, Howdenshire and East Riding of Yorkshire, has been consistently represented by Conservative MPs since the 1837 general election. Davis's majority fell back to 4.3% in the 2001 general election and the seat became a Liberal Democrat target. However, Davis increased his majority to 10.7% in the 2005 general election. The nature of Davis's resignation resulted in a number of by-election records and unusual occurrences. Most