Ex-Sun Editor Prepared to Give Davis a By-Election Fight

THE question of who will contest the by-election with David Davis hotted up yesterday as former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie revealed he may enter the race.

With Labour seemingly unlikely to stand anyone against the former Shadow Home Secretary, Mr MacKenzie said he had discussed the issue with the newspaper’s owner Rupert Murdoch who wanted to avoid the contest being a walkover.

Mr MacKenzie said: “He (Mr Murdoch) suggested to me that if Labour doesn’t put anyone up I would run. If that’s the case and Rupert puts up the money, because it isn’t cheap to run as a candidate, then I might well do it.”

While the Liberal Democrats have already agreed to stand aside and Labour, Ukip and the BNP all appear unlikely to contest the election, the involvement of the controversial 62-year-old – famed for headlines such as “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” and the infamous “Gotcha” front page splash on the sinking of the General Belgrano during the Falklands conflict – would be sure to add some colour, despite Mr Davis’s desire to spark serious debate.

And it was not long before he was already courting controversy yesterday, with commentators reporting he told one BBC producer off camera – unaware he was being recorded – “Have you ever been to Hull? It’s a shocker, an absolute shocker.”

The Sun has been critical of Mr Davis over his opposition to the powers to detain terror suspects for 42 days

Yesterday Mr MacKenzie said: “I don’t feel it’s right that he should be allowed to have a walkover, a major procession.

“I don’t feel my civil liberties as being at risk but I view my life as being at risk if I am on the Tube or the train and some bad guy wants to blow me up or blow my family up.”

At a press conference Gordon Brown refused to say whether Labour would stand a candidate. The party selected Danny Marten, chairman of East Yorkshire Young Labour, as their candidate for the constituency last year, but he may now have to wait until the General Election.

With many senior Labour MPs reluctant to stand and give credibility to what they see as a stunt by Mr Davis, former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s son David, who failed in his bid to fight his father’s seat when he steps down, called for Mr Marten to be allowed to stand.

“We MUST put up a candidate,” he said on his blog. “Denis McShane has just floated the idea that we should stand aside. If we do, we would be complicit in turning this stunt into a greater farce and show that we’re too scared or embarrassed to stand.”

Some rumours claimed Mr Marten was himself opposed to 42 days, but Mr Prescott said: “I don’t know what Danny’s stance is on 42 days but if he is not in favour of it, this shouldn’t preclude him from standing. In fact having a sceptical 42 days candidate would show that we’re a broad church, willing to encompass the wider Labour movement and, of course, it would help shoot the Davis fox.”

Yesterday, Mr Davis’s Yorkshire Tory colleague John Greenway, MP for Ryedale, backed Mr Davis and revealed his own fury at the 42 days vote – and the collapse of parliamentary power with insufficient time for MPs to debate legislation.

“You cannot compel people to agree with your point of view, you have to win the argument,” he said. “We’re being denied a lot of opportunities to put the argument because Parliament has been neutered. The House of Commons never has sufficient time to really debate.”

(c) 2008 Yorkshire Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.