The Haltemprice and Howden by-election
I think there are three points that come out of this.
Firstly, I will be interested to see how Mr Davis, now re-elected, keeps the issue in the public eye. I dislike single-issue elections as Mr Davis will represent his constituency on the whole range of public issues. Although David Davis (according to ConservativeHome) has said that he “return[s] to the Commons with a mandate to fight Gordon Brown’s vision of Big Brother Britain”, the polling picture is rather different. The only like-for-like poll I can find (again, via ConservativeHome) is the Phi 5000 which suggests no significant change. Equally, I wonder whether Mr Davis, now a backbencher, will attract the same sort of media coverage that he has of late. In short, I wonder whether the change, if any, is lasting.
Secondly, we need to reassess the left and right dichotomy. Clearly, it is not accurate, but many people - Tony Benn - supported David Davis on the issue at hand and the principle of single-issue elections. As I have said, I feel that the belief that “socialists and libertarians sometimes meet round the back” is inaccurate, particularly as Mr Davis isn’t really a libertarian.
Thirdly, congratulations to Shan Oakes and the Green Party for coming second with a creditable 7.4% of the vote. While I know the elections are very different, it is only 0.8% less than the share of the vote they achieved for the GLA earlier this year, and in much less fertile territory. Full results are below the fold.
xD.
David Michael Davis (Conservative Party): 17,113 votes (71.6%)
Shan Oakes (Green Party): 1,758 (7.4%)
Joanne Robinson (English Democrats): 1,714 (7.2%)
Tess Culnane (National Front Britain for the British): 544 (2.3%)
Gemma Dawn Garrett (Miss Great Britain Party): 521 (2.2%)
Jill Saward (Independent): 492 (2.1%)
Mad Cow-Girl (The Official Monster Raving Loony Party): 412 (1.7%)
Walter Edward Sweeney (Independent): 238 (1.0%)
John Nicholson (Independent): 162 (0.7%)
David Craig (Independent): 135 (0.6%)
David Pinder (The New Party): 135 (0.6%)
David Icke: 110 (0.5%)
Hamish Howitt (Freedom 4 Choice): 91 (0.4%)
Christopher John Talbot (Socialist Equality Party): 84 (0.4%)
Grace Christine Astley (Independent): 77 (0.3%)
George Hargreaves (Christian Party): 76 (0.3%)
David Laurence Bishop (Church of the Militant Elvis Party): 44 (0.2%)
John Randle Upex (Independent): 38 (0.2%)
Greg Wood (Independent): 32 (0.1%)
Eamonn Fitzpatrick (Independent): 31 (0.1%)
Ronnie Carroll (Make Politicians History): 29 (0.1%)
Thomas Faithful Darwood (Independent): 25 (0.1%)
Christopher Mark Foren (Independent): 23 (0.1%)
Herbert Winford Crossman (Independent): 11 (0.0%)
Tony Farnon (Independent): 8 (0.0%)
Norman Scarth (Independent): 8 (0.0%)
Turnout 23,911 (34.03%)
July 12th, 2008 at 8:35 am
What puzzle me slightly, and I need to ponder a little more on this, is why exactly many on the left thought it necessary to back Davis rather than the more liberal candidate on civil liberties (ie, the Greens). I’m trying very, very hard to reject the immediate, cynical conclusion.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Justin,
I wholeheartedly agree. I was really disappointed when Tony Benn came out batting for Davis and not the Greens.
What’s the immediate, cynical conclusion? That Labour wants to maintain the two-and-a-half party system? Sorry, it’s a bit early on a Saturday for me to be thinking.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Sorry Dave, what I meant was that maybe Davis’s coat tails offered a more fancy ride for some than Shan Oakes’s.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Ah!
Certainly, attaching yourself to Mr Davis would have brought more coverage than attaching yourself to Ms Oakes. I return to the danger of single-issue elections.
xD.