Jon Walker: What's the real reason behind the Davis decision
Jun 13 2008 By Jon Walker
David Davis - man of principle or man on the edge of a nervous breakdown?
This is the question being asked at Westminster. There's no clear answer so far.
The shadow Home Secretary yesterday announced he was standing down as an MP so that he could fight a by-election on a platform of defending civil liberties.
It followed the Government's victory in Wednesday's Commons vote on 42-days detention for terror suspects.
Mr Davis calls this a "monstrosity of a law" - and part of a "relentless erosion of fundamental British freedoms" which also includes ID cards, the DNA database and the steady increase in CCTV cameras.
One view is that he has put his career at risk in order to stand up for something he believes. Even those who disagree with his views must respect his bravery.
He could lose his Commons seat. But even if he wins the by-election, his career at the top level of politics may be over.
Mr Davis was almost certain to be appointed Home Secretary if the Conservatives won the next General Election. But by standing down from the Commons, he has also left the Tory frontbench - and there is no guarantee he will get it back.
Conservative leader David Cameron moved swiftly yesterday to appoint a new shadow Home Secretary in the shape of Dominic Grieve, previously the shadow Attorney General.
This doesn't necessarily make Mr Davis foolish. Putting his career on the line could be seen as evidence that he really does believe in what he is saying.
But there are some problems with this view. First of all, his constituency, Haltemprice & Howden in Yorkshire, is a Conservative/Lib Dem marginal. Labour are in a poor third place.
The Liberal Democrats also opposed the 42-day laws. It makes no sense to battle them over this great matter of principle when they share his opinion.
In fact, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg quickly announced that his party wouldn't even be putting up a candidate, because they were on Mr Davis' side.
At the last General Election, Mr Davis received 22,792 votes while the Labour candidate, who came third, gained 6,104 - giving the Tories a majority over Labour of more than 16,000.
The Lib Dems came second with 17,676, but if the big issue of the by-election is to be 42 days and ID cards, one would expect votes to go to the Tories.
Mr Davis leaves himself open to the charge that he has forced an unnecessary by-election which won't prove anything. Critics such as Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, point out that by-elections are expensive and this grandstanding will cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds.
David Blunkett, the former Labour Home Secretary, has urged his party to refuse to put up a candidate. This would leave Labour open to criticism for failing to give voters a choice.
The biggest danger for Mr Davis is that he makes the Tories look divided. This seems to have been his own idea - not something he agreed with David Cameron. It was noticeable yesterday that Mr Cameron wished Mr Davis luck in "his" - not "our" - by-election campaign.
