'Bring it on' urges Davis as Murdoch's man picks up the gauntlet

THE by-election sparked by the shock resignation of Tory MP David Davis was yesterday descending into farce with Kelvin MacKenzie, a former editor of the Sun, set to enter the race.

Mr MacKenzie, now an outspoken columnist, said he would stand against the former shadow Home Secretary if – as expected – Labour declined to put forward a challenger.

Labour, which came third in the Haltemprice and Howden constituency in the 2005 General Election with only 12 per cent of the vote, said it would not make a final decision until Mr Davis formally quit as an MP. The Lib Dems have already said they will not put forward a candidate. With UKIP and the BNP also refusing to enter the race, Mr Davis could be challenged by only Mr MacKenzie and the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Mr MacKenzie, who has previously fought local council elections on the issue of parking charges, said he had been encouraged by Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, which owns the Sun.

The campaign would be bankrolled by Mr Murdoch – allowed under UK election law if the funds come from a company registered in Britain. Candidates can spend up to £100,000.

Mr MacKenzie said: "He (Mr Murdoch] suggested to me that if Labour doesn't put anyone up I would run. If that's the case and Rupert puts up the money, because it isn't cheap to run as a candidate, then I might well do it."

He said he was prepared to stand "in the interests of democracy", and added: "I don't feel it's right that he should be allowed to have a walkover. I don't feel my civil liberties as being at risk, but I view my life as being at risk if I am on the Tube or the train and some bad guy wants to blow me up or blow my family up."

Mr Davis shocked his party by stepping down on Thursday to re-contest his seat in an attempt to highlight what he regards as the erosion of Britain's civil liberties. The tipping point was the government's victory in getting plans to detain terror suspects for 42 days through the Commons.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, yesterday gave a clear signal that Labour would not participate in the by-election, which is likely to be held on 10 July, by describing it as a "stunt". He said: "I think everyone now recognises that this is a stunt that has become a farce."

But Mr Davis accused Mr Brown of an "incredible act of cowardice", and said he was not fearing a challenge from Mr MacKenzie, who the bookmakers make a 16/1 outsider.

Mr Davis said: "Good luck to him. Bring it on. If he wants to take me on, with the full money and might of the Murdoch organisation, well, so be it."

The world according to Kelvin…

"Gordon Brown… wants to spend every single penny you earn. Scotland believes not in entrepreneurialism like London … the reality is that the Scots enjoy spending it; they don't enjoy creating it."

– sparking outrage on BBC TV's Question Time last year

"The infrastructure of Scotland exists solely on the hand-outs of the clever English."

– defending his comments on Question Time

"Well, John, let me put it this way. I've got a large bucket of s**t lying on my desk and tomorrow morning I'm going to pour it all over your head."

– to John Major, then PM, after the 1992 exchange rate crisis

"I said I'd rather saw my d**k off with a nail file."

– when offered the chance to be a Tory spin doctor

"She couldn't edit a bus ticket."

– on Janet Street-Porter, appointed to edit the Independent on Sunday

"The only people who want to pay a licence fee are academics and people with strange sweaters."

– on the BBC

"I'm not nervous. I had all my nerves taken out when I was at the Sun. They do an operation on Bupa."

– on his debut as a talk-show host