David Davis
Judge of the U.S. Supreme Court
Appointed 1862
Posted on 06/12/2008 4:58:54 AM PDT by UKrepublican
David Davis 'is to resign as MP'
Shadow home secretary David Davis is set to resign as an MP, the BBC understands.
It is thought he wants to trigger a by-election in his Haltemprice and Howden seat.
Mr Davis has been a passionate opponent of plans to extend the terror detention limit to 42 days.
The 59-year-old is one of the best known Conservatives, and was runner up to David Cameron in the party leadership election in 2005.
News of his planned resignation came as a complete surprise in Westminster - and speculation is rife about his possible motives.
Rumors suggest he has had a major row with Cameron and will campaign in the by election he is calling on the 42 day issue, strangely without any party backing.
He's due to make a statement in a minute which you can watch here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/bsp/hi/news24live/html/news24.stm
And just as the conservative party looked to be making a comeback as well....
It is remarkable....but he has done the country a service....in getting this to the people (albeit only his own constituency) but the nation will be involved in the debate.
Don’t see why it’s bad news, he’s not going to lose the by election?
I think this will play well - he has to distance himself from Cameron. David Davies was the best Tory leader we never had. Watch this space....
I made the mistake of commenting before I watched his speech fully, to be honest he gets my full support on what he stands for, he's a man of principle and puts this before his own career and interests.
I just hope and pray that the issues of liberty get brought to the forefront like they deserve to be, he'll win the seat I agree...
It’s a good move in that it will hopefully spark a national debate on how new-labour are running roughshod over our rights and freedoms.
His seat isn’t entirely safe, so it really is a very principled stand.
Hats off to the man.
“His seat isn’t entirely safe, so it really is a very principled stand.”
His seat is safe in this case, he won it by 5000 odd majority over the Lib Dems with Labour a distant third, and the Lib Dems already said they won’t contest the by election.
I think it is a principled stand, but I’m worried it could end up just looking like a publicity stunt.
The obvious political move for Labour would be to dismiss it as such and also not to contest the seat. Interesting to see if that’s what they do.
He’s lost his position as Home Secratary in the Shadow Cabinet, so he has had to make a sacrifice in his political career, and by all accounts it seems that Dave-o is rather annoyed with what he has done. It didn’t take him long to replace him on the front bench....
As a Yank I have a few questions:
1: Why did the Right Honourable Mr. Davis resign? Wouldn’t his No vote and a public statement on this issue been enough.
2: From what I understand none of the other parties will field a candidate so does it make whatever statement Mr. Davis intended mute?
3: Since he will be automatically re-elected is he still a Tory and get his post back as Shadow Home Secretary?
4: Why is this such an embarassment for the Tories and Cameron?
“1: Why did the Right Honourable Mr. Davis resign? Wouldn’t his No vote and a public statement on this issue been enough.”
He could have, but he felt very strongly about the issue and there were already many people who opposed extending the right to hold someone without charge to 42 days. If he just made a statement that stated his opposition to it, it wouldn’t have grabbed the attention of the media, the house and the public the way his shocking act has done.
“2: From what I understand none of the other parties will field a candidate so does it make whatever statement Mr. Davis intended mute?”
The Liberal-Democrats, the other main opposition party also strongly oppose the government’s 42 day bill, and have agreed to not to field a candidate in deference to the fact that he is campaigning on this single issue.
“3: Since he will be automatically re-elected is he still a Tory and get his post back as Shadow Home Secretary?”
Yes to the first part, doubtful on the second part. David Cameron has already replaced him as Shadow Home Secratary.
“4: Why is this such an embarassment for the Tories and Cameron?”
I don’t think this is an embarassment for the Tories as such, but it might be an embarassment for David Cameron, who by all accounts did not approve of what David Davis has done and has quickly replaced him as Shadow Home Secratary.
You have to understand that David Davis was the main rival for Cameron during the last leadership contest, and Cameron and his supporters may view this warily because it has the potential to change the dynamic that exists between the two in terms of the influence he holds with the Conservative Party...
Thanks Thundery.
The idea is that he makes 42 days the theme of the byelection. If he is reelected by a bigger majority, he has a specific mandate from the electorate for his policy. That reinforces his position. If the anti-Labour swing was large, he could argue that the public had rejected the government’s policy. But this may be wishful thinking because byelections typically have low turnout and because Labour has not decided yet whether to contest it. In any case opinion polls show 70% of the public support the 42-day policy - although given the electoral arithmetic, there is no chance whatsoever of him losing the seat, of course, and his share of the vote is likely to rise even if Labour stands a candidate, due to the general collapse in the Labour vote and also due to Lib Dem backing for his candidacy.
Davis is challenging Labour to stand a candidate against him and hoping that he can portray them as cowards if they don’t do so.
There was clearly a big tactical split between Davis and Cameron. If Davis hadn’t resigned, today’s main news story would be the Prime Minister getting grief over what alleged bribes he gave to the Democratic Unionists in return for their support. It is therefore unclear that Davis has made a good move. There is no great tradition of resignations of this kind. The nearest thing to a recent precedent was the mass resignation of Unionist MPs twenty years ago in protest against the Anglo-Irish agreement.
Davis blows his top
The dramatic resignation of the shadow home secretary
Jun 12th 2008
http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11559259
[snip] Mr Davis talked about Magna Carta and habeas corpus, and has consistently opposed the government’s illiberal laws. But politics, as well as principle, may be involved. Mr Cameron called the stand “courageous” — but emphasised that Mr Davis’s decision was a personal one; he announced that Dominic Grieve would be taking on the home-affairs brief. There were whispers of a split between the Davids over whether, in office, they would repeal the 42-day law (assuming it becomes one). The fact that Mr Davis had consulted the Liberal Democrats, who also opposed longer detention, will also irk some Tories. The Lib Dems immediately said they would not run a candidate against him. [end]
Irrational exuberance
Why, without David Davis, the Conservatives need a Pickles tendency
Jun 19th 2008
http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11579572
David Davies Shadow Home Secretary Resigns to force By-election
BBC TV | 06/12.08 | vanity
Posted on 06/12/2008 5:15:58 AM PDT by vimto
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029966/posts
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