David Davis: The Don Quixote of British politics

12/6/08 22:15

Well, I have to say it's been quite a day. Bizarre. I have just seen Iain Dale wetting himself on Newsnight about "if David sparks a real national debate" on freedom then it'll be worth it. As if.

I still see no other real interpretation of this Davis implosion other than that it is an act of pique and ego. I'm sorry. I am far too cynical, I know. But I think Davis is being pathetic.

I think the LibDem party has taken absolutely the right course of action in not standing a candidate in this sort of Don Quixote exercise by Davis.

I note from Simon Hughes' email that the local party chair, regional chair and Simon himself were all party to the decision with Nick Clegg. That's right and I am glad we took a quick decision.

As I note in an update to my original post on this, Davis is likely to be opposed only by the Monster Raving Loony Party. How appropriate.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 13/6/08 09:05: The Official Monster Raving Loony Party has announced that "MadCow" (pictured above) will challenge David Davis at the forthcoming by-election. She's already got her campaign site up and running here. Roy Greenslade comments interestingly on Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Wade's decision to enlist Kelvin MacKenzie as a Sun candidate: Kelvin will fight and Kelvin will be Right. There is no news yet from the Miss Great Britain Party.

MORE BREAKING NEWS: 14/06/08 07:45: It seems Kelvin MacKenzie may be having second thoughts about standing at the "Mad Cow" by-election in Haltemprice and Howden. There is not a word about his candidacy in today's Sun, where you would expect an all-guns-blazing campaign launch. Former colleague Phil Hall suggests that he is getting "cold feet" at the prospect of possibly spending years in Parliament. Yesterday MacKenzie said it was "90%" likely he would stand, so maybe the 10% prospect is winning. A symptom of MacKenzie's half-heartedness may be his remarks about nearby Hull yesterday:

Have you ever been to Hull? It's a shocker, an absolute shocker

...How not to win friends and influence people in nearby Haltemprice and Howden.

So, without MacKenzie, Davis will, at the current count, be facing a grand total of one opposing candidate at the by-election - that is, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party's MadCow (above).