2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election by-election that is completely unnecessary and the Labour Party will not be taking part in what is a political stunt". The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) did not contest the election. However, one UKIP MEP announced that he would campaign for David Davis if he also addressed issues related to the European Union during his campaign. The British National Party announced that it would support Davis and not run. The editor of "The Sun" newspaper, Rebekah Wade and its proprietor Rupert Murdoch requested in the immediate days following Davis's decision that columnist Kelvin MacKenzie stand against Davis for election. MacKenzie
2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election June 2008. At 26, the number of candidates broke the record for a UK parliamentary by-election, previously held by the Newbury by-election, 1993, which had 19 candidates. The greatest number of candidates to have contested a UK general election seat is 15, at Sedgefield in 2005. Due to the large number of candidates the ballot paper for this election was arranged in two columns. Also, the candidates stood in a line in front of a small platform with the returning officer on it, rather than on a temporary stage as is normally practised because it was feared that the stage