Davis freedom fight costs taxpayer £200,000

The by-election now raging in Yorkshire will cost the taxpayer more than £200,000.

A free mailshot provided to each of the 26 candidates will cost £112,600, says the Royal Mail, while East Riding Council – which is footing the bill for the contest – estimates the total cost will be at least £95,000.

The by-election was called by former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, who resigned his seat last month to raise awareness of the Government's supposed erosion of civil liberties. But instead of debating with Labour, he has been forced to contest the Haltemprice and Howden constituency with candidates including David Icke, Miss Great Britain, Bus Pass Elvis and former Eurovision contestant Ronnie Carroll, standing under the party name Make Politicians History.

Yesterday Shadow Chancellor George Osborne described Mr Davis' decision to fight the by-election as courageous and accused the Prime Minister of being "scared of democracy".

See the full article at Yorkshire Post