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
2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election notably, at 26, the election saw a record number of candidates and a record number of independent candidates standing for an election in the UK. 23 of them, including all independents, lost their deposit, also a record. The Labour Party's decision not to put forward a candidate meant this was the first Great British by-election since the Bristol South East in 1963 (in which the Conservative Party did not stand) in which the governing party has not stood a candidate and the first Great British by-election without a Labour candidate since the Combined English Universities by-election, 1946. Davis's result saw