Davis D-Day as voters go to polls

And all eyes are on how many of the 70,100 electors will turn out to vote as neither the Lib Dems nor the Labour Party are fielding a candidate.

In the centre of the East Yorkshire market town of Howden some voters were even queuing in the morning sunshine when the polling station opened at 7am in the Shire Hall opposite the town's imposing Minster. By 7.30am more than 20 people had cast their votes. Most were voting before heading to work.

With only the Tories out of the three main political parties standing, attention will also focus on how many of the colourful selection of 25 other hopefuls on the ballot papers will secure more than a handful of supporters.

The by-election has the largest field of any ever held in UK, beating the previous record of 19 in the 1993 Newbury poll.

The former shadow home secretary triggered the election when he resigned from the House of Commons last month following the vote on the Government's plans to raise the period terror suspects can be held by police to 42 days.

He said he wanted to fight the election on the single issue of what he sees as the Government's erosion of civil liberties in a range of areas from the 42 days debate through to the explosion of CCTV and the national DNA database.

The Liberal Democrats, who came second in the constituency in the 2005 General Election, said they were not going to field a candidate immediately after Mr Davis's resignation announcement, saying they agreed with his position. The Labour Party also decided not to stand, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown describing the by-election as a "stunt".

The Haltemprice and Howden constituency is large, covering a broad swathe of rural East Yorkshire north of the River Humber as well as some of Hull's western suburbs. Polling closes at 10pm and the count will take place at the Haltemprice Leisure Centre in Hull with the result not expected until the early hours of Friday morning.

The full list of candidates is: Grace Christine Astley (Ind); 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 (Ind); Herbert Winford Crossman (Ind); Tess Culnane (National Front Britain for the British); Thomas Faithful Darwood (Ind); David Michael Davis (The Conservative Party Candidate); Tony Farnon (Ind); Eamonn Fitzy Fitzpatrick (Ind); Christopher Mark Foren (Ind); Gemma Dawn Garrett (Miss Great Britain Party); George Hargreaves (Christian Party); Hamish Howitt (Freedom 4 Choice); David Icke (no description given); John Nicholson (Ind); Shan Oakes (Green Party); David Pinder (The New Party); Joanne Robinson (English Democrats - Putting England First); Jill Saward (Ind); Norman Scarth (Ind); Walter Edward Sweeney (Ind); Christopher John Talbot (Socialist Equality Party); John Randle Upex (Ind) and Greg Wood (Ind).