It is just the sort of occasion Record Breakers host Roy Castle would have loved. The Haltemprice and Howden by-election has already made British electoral history due to the sheer number of candidates on the ballot paper. Brian Wheeler finds 10 more ways the result could enter the record books.
It is just the sort of occasion Record Breakers host Roy Castle would have loved. The Haltemprice and Howden by-election had already made British electoral history due to the sheer number of candidates on the ballot paper. Before the poll, Brian Wheeler looked at 10 further ways in which the result could have entered the record books. How did they turn out?
1. TURNOUT - HOW LOW CAN IT GO?
1. TURNOUT - HOW LOW COULD IT GO?
With two of the big three parties sitting the contest out, pundits believe Haltemprice and Howden could produce the lowest turnout in by-election history. Tory candidate David Davis - perhaps trying to talk expectations down - has said it could be as low as 5%, or about 3,500 voters. The post-war record is held by Hilary Benn, who polled 19.9% in Leeds Central in 1999. Only 9% of the electorate turned out in the 1942 Poplar by-election but that took place under wartime conditions.
With two of the big three parties sitting the contest out, pundits believed Haltemprice and Howden could produce the lowest turnout in by-election history. Tory candidate David Davis - perhaps trying to talk expectations down - had said it could have been as low as 5%, or about 3,500 voters. The post-war record is held by Hilary Benn, who polled 19.9% in Leeds Central in 1999. Only 9% of the electorate turned out in the 1942 Poplar by-election, but that took place under wartime conditions.
Result: record intact. Turnout was an unremarkable 35%.
2. MOST UNPOPULAR CANDIDATE?
2. MOST UNPOPULAR CANDIDATE?
Will anyone break the record for the smallest number of votes received in a Parliamentary election? Former Eurovision singer Ronnie Carroll is gunning for this one, we are told - but it is not as easy as it looks. He will need to poll fewer than five votes to enter the record books. Bill Boaks, a road safety campaigner and perennial by-election also ran in the 1980s, is the man to beat.
Would anyone break the record for the smallest number of votes received in a Parliamentary election? Former Eurovision singer Ronnie Carroll was gunning for this one, we were told - but it was not as easy as it looked. He needed to poll fewer than five votes to enter the record books. Bill Boaks, a road safety campaigner and perennial by-election also ran in the 1980s, was the man to beat.
Result: record intact. Independents Tony Farnon and Norman Scarth came joint bottom with eight votes each.
3. FASTEST COUNT?
3. FASTEST COUNT?
No records expected here. Polls close at 2200 BST, with counting expected to begin 15 minutes after that. But Haltemprice and Howden is a large, mainly rural constituency and it is expected to take until 2330 to collect all of the ballot boxes from outlying areas. The result is expected between midnight and 0200 BST, depending on turnout.
No records were expected here. Polls closed at 2200 BST, with counting expected to begin 15 minutes after that. But Haltemprice and Howden is a large, mainly rural constituency and it was expected to take until 2330 to collect all of the ballot boxes from outlying areas.
Result: record intact. The result was not declared until shortly before 0300 BST, following a delay so a recount could be held to decide who had come second and third.
4. MOST CANDIDATES ON A BY-ELECTION STAGE?
4. MOST CANDIDATES ON A BY-ELECTION STAGE?
Sadly health and safety chiefs have ruled this one out - there were concerns that a temporary stage might collapse under the weight of 26 would-be MPs - so they will stand in a semi-circle on the floor of Haltemprice Leisure Centre instead. The returning officer will stand on a raised platform in the middle to read out the results.
Sadly health and safety chiefs ruled this one out - there were concerns that a temporary stage might collapse under the weight of 26 would-be MPs.
Result: record intact. Candidates stood in a semi-circle on the floor of Haltemprice Leisure Centre. The returning officer had a raised platform in the middle to read out the results.
5. MOST CANDIDATES MAKING A SPEECH?
5. MOST CANDIDATES MAKING A SPEECH?
All 26 can make a speech if they want to. The returning officer is expected to have a quiet word beforehand about keeping it brief. Nevertheless, it could be a long and entertaining night with broadcasting novices up against such professionals as ex-BBC sports presenter David Icke.
All 26 could have made a speech if they had wanted to. The returning officer was expected to have a quiet word beforehand about keeping it brief. Nevertheless, it could have been a long and entertaining night with broadcasting novices up against such professionals as ex-BBC sports presenter David Icke.
6. HOW MANY WILL LOSE THEIR £500 DEPOSIT?
Result: record intact. Only a handful of candidates chose to address the nation.
When 19 candidates stood at Newbury in 1993 - the previous record number for a by-election - 17 of them lost their deposit. But with the vote shared out between 26 candidates in Haltemprice and Howden, there is a good chance many of them could poll more than 5% of the vote - especially if there is a very low turnout.
6. HOW MANY WOULD LOSE THEIR £500 DEPOSIT?
7. WILL THE LOONIES SAVE THEIR DEPOSIT?
When 19 candidates stood at Newbury in 1993 - the previous record number for a by-election - 17 of them lost their deposit. But with the vote shared out between 26 candidates in Haltemprice and Howden, there was a good chance that many of them could have polled fewer than 5% of the vote - especially if there was a very low turnout.
Despite contesting dozens of elections over the past 25 years, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party has never gained enough votes to hold on to its deposit. Will Thursday night be any different? Will Mad-Cow Girl succeed where the party's late founder, Screaming Lord Sutch, so often failed?
Result: new record. Twenty-three surrendered their deposits.
8. WHO WILL COME SECOND?
7. WOULD THE LOONIES SAVE THEIR DEPOSIT?
Assuming David Davis wins, whoever comes second will be recording their party's best ever by-election result. The Greens' have the best previous by-election performance, from when they gained 6.1% of the vote at Vauxhall in 1989.
Despite contesting dozens of elections over the past 25 years, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party had never gained enough votes to hold on to its deposit. Would Thursday night be any different? Would Mad-Cow Girl succeed where the party's late founder, Screaming Lord Sutch, so often failed?
9. WHAT IF DAVID DAVIS DOESN'T WIN?
Result: record intact. Mad-Cow Girl won only 412 votes, or 1.7%.
Unthinkable, say the pundits but by-elections are strange things - and they don't come any stranger than this one. If he does lose, it will be one of the biggest upsets in political history - and his decision to quit as an MP to fight a by-election on civil liberties will go down as one of British politics' greatest own goals.
8. WHO WOULD COME SECOND?
Assuming David Davis won, whoever came second would record their party's best ever by-election result. The Greens had the best previous by-election performance, from when they gained 6.1% of the vote at Vauxhall in 1989.
Result: new record. The Green candidate Shan Oakes came second with 1,758, or 7.3% of the vote.
9. WHAT IF DAVID DAVIS DIDN'T WIN?
Unthinkable, said the pundits, but by-elections are strange things - and they didn't come any stranger than this one. If he did lose, it would have been one of the biggest upsets in political history - and his decision to quit as an MP to fight a by-election on civil liberties would have gone down as one of British politics' greatest own goals.
Result: record intact. Mr Davis stormed home with a 72% share of all ballots cast.
10. COULD DAVIS SECURE A RECORD WIN?
10. COULD DAVIS SECURE A RECORD WIN?
Could the former shadow home secretary actually get more votes than he did in the 2005 general election? Impossible say the experts. If he does get more than 22,792 votes it will not only be a massive vindication of his campaign against 42 day detention of terror suspects, it will also confirm him as a major player at Westminster once again and ensure civil liberties is a major issue at the next general election. It will also leave a few Westminster pundits with large amounts of egg on their faces - surely reason enough to tune into the election coverage later, just on the off chance...
Could the former shadow home secretary have actually won more votes than he did in the 2005 general election? Impossible, said the experts. If he did get more than 22,792 votes, it would not only have been a massive vindication of his campaign against 42-day detention of terror suspects, it would also have confirmed him as a major player at Westminster once again and have ensured that civil liberties were a major issue at the next general election. It would also have left a few Westminster pundits with large amounts of egg on their faces - surely reason enough to tune into the election coverage, just on the off chance...
Oh, and to help you keep across the result tonight, here is the full list of candidates:
Result: record intact. On a reduced turnout, Mr Davies attracted 17,113 votes.
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Grace
Christine Astley - Independent
David
Laurence Bishop - Church of the Militant Elvis Party
Ronnie
Carroll - Make Politicians History
Mad
Cow-Girl - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
David
Craig - Independent
Herbert
Winford Crossman - Independent
Tess
Culnane - National Front Britain for the British
Thomas
Faithful Darwood - Independent
David
Michael Davis - Conservative
Tony
Farnon - Independent
Eamonn
"Fitzy" Fitzpatrick - Independent
Christopher
Mark Foren - Independent
Gemma
Dawn Garrett - Miss Great Britain Party
George
Hargreaves - Christian Party
Hamish
Howitt - Freedom 4 Choice
David
Icke - No party listed
John
Nicholson - Independent
Shan
Oakes - Green Party
David
Pinder - The New Party
Joanne
Robinson - English Democrats: Putting England First
Jill
Saward - Independent
Norman
Scarth - Independent
Walter
Edward Sweeney - Independent
Christopher
John Talbot - Socialist Equality Party
John
Randle Upex - Independent
Greg
Wood - Independent
Oh, and for the record, here is the full list of the record breaking 26 candidates:
Grace Christine Astley - Independent
David Laurence Bishop - Church of the Militant Elvis Party
Ronnie Carroll - Make Politicians History
Mad Cow-Girl - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
David Craig - Independent
Herbert Winford Crossman - Independent
Tess Culnane - National Front Britain for the British
Thomas Faithful Darwood - Independent
David Michael Davis - Conservative
Tony Farnon - Independent
Eamonn "Fitzy" Fitzpatrick - Independent
Christopher Mark Foren - Independent
Gemma Dawn Garrett - Miss Great Britain Party
George Hargreaves - Christian Party
Hamish Howitt - Freedom 4 Choice
David Icke - No party listed
John Nicholson - Independent
Shan Oakes - Green Party
David Pinder - The New Party
Joanne Robinson - English Democrats: Putting England First
Jill Saward - Independent
Norman Scarth - Independent
Walter Edward Sweeney - Independent
Christopher John Talbot - Socialist Equality Party
