Tory leader David Cameron has signalled there will be no return for David Davis to the shadow cabinet after his by-election victory.

Mr Davis won the Haltemprice and Howden seat with a 15,355 majority over 25 fringe candidates in Thursday's vote after quitting his job in protest at the Government's 42-day detention plans.

But while Mr Cameron said he was "delighted" by the former shadow home secretary's win, he already had a "very strong shadow cabinet".

Asked whether Mr Davis would be returned to the front bench, Mr Cameron said: "Obviously, I will talk to him about what the future holds, but I have a very strong shadow cabinet.

"David is a very strong Conservative and a very big figure in our party and I'm sure there are all sorts of ways in which he will be able to contribute in the future."

Neither Labour nor the Liberal Democrats fought the by-election, and turnout was less than 35 per cent - branding the by-election a farce and a waste of taxpayers' money.

Speaking after the declaration, Mr Davis said his victory had been a "shot across the bows of Gordon Brown's arrogant, arbitrary and authoritarian Government".

He said: "The people of Haltemprice and Howden have delivered a stunning - a stunning - message to the Government, and our campaign has reverberated across the country.

"Four weeks ago as Gordon Brown stooped into the gutter to rig the vote on 42 days, ministers crowed that 69 per cent of people voted 42 days. Today just 36 per cent supported it."

He added: "Four weeks ago the Government touted public support for a range of other draconian measures. Today 71 per cent support my stand against the attacks on British liberty."

Mr Davis said that after Baroness Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, "savaged" 42 days earlier this week, the proposal now "lies in tatters, robbed of any remaining credibility".

He said his re-election was only the beginning of his campaign as he takes up his Commons seat again on Monday.

"I do so with a clear mandate, to fight Gordon Brown's vision of Big Brother Britain tooth and nail, to stop 42 days in its tracks, to prevent the disaster of ID cards before it happens, to protect our personal privacy from being ransacked by the ever-intrusive state," he added.

"But most of all for the thousands upon thousands that have written to me, supported me, and voted for me, I return to fight for those fundamental freedoms that define our way of life - freedoms that millions died defending, freedoms that make Britain great."

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