David Davis, conservative MP speaking at Vote for AV, a live Intelligence Squared debate, April 2011, Cadogan Hall

David Davis

Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden

David Davis entered Parliament in the late 1980s, when he became the Conservative MP for Boothferry in Yorkshire. His entry into Parliament came after a seventeen-year career at Tate & Lyle. In the mid-1990s, he was a Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and has also served as Chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (1997 and 2001). He was a prospective candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party following William Hague’s resignation in 2001, but eventually finished fourth and was appointed Chairman of the Party.

Davis was controversially replaced by Theresa May in 2002, but became Shadow Home Secretary late in 2003, a position he held until June 2008, when he resigned from this role and his role as MP for Haltemprice and Howden. His resignation came soon after controversial plans to extend the period of detention without charge for terrorism suspects from 28 days to 42, and aimed to bring attention to the erosion of civil liberties in the UK. He won the resulting Haltemprice and Howden by-election with 72% of the votes.