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
Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency) Democrat candidate. Notably, the Labour candidate in said election was activist and comedy writer John O'Farrell, whose campaign was the subject of a BBC documentary entitled "Losing My Maidenhead". Due to their strong performance in 2001, the seat was one of several targeted by the Liberal Democrats in 2005 as part of a 'decapitation strategy' to deprive senior Conservatives of their seats; as with similar efforts in Haltemprice and Howden and West Dorset, however, this strategy was unsuccessful, as May retained her seat with almost double her 2001 majority. Since this election, she has held it by majorities of at