It was David Davis's stated aim, in subjecting himself to the voters of Haltemprice and Howden, to lead a wide-ranging democratic debate on the state of liberty in modern Britain. The governing party might have declined his invitation, but if choice is one of the measures of democracy then this forthcoming by-election will be the most democratic in history, with a field of 26 candidates easily surpassing the previous record, 19, set in Newbury in 1993, and more than double the mere 12 candidates who stood in this week's Henley poll. And what a very strange bunch they are, a mixture of extremists, doomed idealists, publicity-seekers and single-issue campaigners. Yet beneath their disparate (and unlikely) platforms a common theme emerges, a dissatisfaction with the status quo combined with a touching, and ultimately hopeful,...
[read full story]
Your Web Site
