"Cameron Pleaded with Me": David Davis, Who Resigned from the Shadow Cabinet to Fight a By-Election over Civil Liberties, Regrets Nothing, He Tells James Macintyre

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For a man who this summer was denounced as "mad" by supporters and enemies alike, having resigned his position as shadow home secretary to fight a one-man crusade on civil liberties in a by-election at his constituency of Haltemprice and Howden, David Davis is in remarkably good spirits. I've known him for more than a decade -we've often discussed the sovereignty of parliament, his lifelong passion-and when we met in his Commons office recently, he seemed relaxed; liberated, as he put it, from the shackles of "machine politics" and endless meetings. "It's been a moderately busy year," he said, with a smile. "The irony of all of this is that on the one hand the interest in me has not gone down, but the workload has become manageable."

He is concentrating on the issues that matter to him, notably ID cards and 42-day detention, both of which appear to be on their way off the government's agenda. But he is determined not to …