Mad Cow-Girl - Haltemprice and Howden Byelection, 2008 Candidacy

Haltemprice and Howden Byelection, 2008 Candidacy

We like to have fun when we go to elections...That's what we're in it for. But on this occasion it seems that the sensible candidate is acting like a loony, so it's up to the Loony Party to try and act sensibly. What a topsy-turvy world we live in.

Warner was one of 26 candidates standing in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008 for the seat of Conservative MP David Davis. In a statement made to the media she stated on the issue of detaining terrorist suspects for 42 days: "I may be a Loony, but I'm not mad enough to want dangerous people walking free in the name of political correctness." Warner argued for the extension of the time-limit for which terrorist suspects can be detained without charge and also argued against civil libertarians who opposed the 42 day limit. She is standing on an indefinite-detention platform, combined with a quote based on Douglas Adams's "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy": "The answer is 42!!! Now we just need to figure out the real question!!!"

Warner positioned herself as tough on terrorism in the run up to the by-election in order to appeal the voters of the predominantly conservative seat. In one interview she asked: "Why don't decent citizens have a 'human right' not be assaulted, blown up or harassed, when the criminals can scream human rights if their handcuffs hurt?"

The Daily Mail theorised that the decision of many of the major political parties not to contest the election leaving "Mad Cow" to stand would be a political embarrassment for the Conservative MP David Davis. The high profile nature of the by election has led to Warner's candidature being announced on several news sites. The Daily Record consider the fact that only Warner and possibly one other candidate will stand means that the by-election has descended into a farce. The Daily Record have endorsed Warner's candidacy on this account:

The poor folk of Haltemprice and Howden should show their contempt by giving the polls a bodyswerve. But if they must vote in this unnecessary £100,000 waste of time, we say: Vote Cow-Girl. OK, her track record's not great. She only polled 149 votes at the last general election in Sunderland South. And she wasn't much help to Nick The Flying Brick in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election last month. But, crucially, she's not as discredited as David Davis. Or MacKenzie, for that matter.

—The Daily Record, June 14, 2008

The Independent suggested that Warner was chosen as the candidate because another candidate Banana Man would be contesting the Henley By-Election as a result of Boris Johnson resigning his Henley seat on becoming Mayor of London.