This mixed seat of rural and residential elements, formed during sweeping boundary changes after the abolition of the county of Humberside, was a rare bright spot for the Conservatives in 1997. David Davis took the seat with a majority of 7,514 to give the Tories one of their few successes in the Yorkshire region.
The seat is split evenly between residential and rural areas. Howden is a small market town on agricultural land north of the Humber, whereas Haltemprice is one of Hull's more middle-class suburbs. Cottingham is another of Hull's cosier areas, and most of that city's more prosperous workers live in this seat - commuters are helped by the M62 which runs right through it.
Unemployment here is very low, and fewer than 10% of homes are council-rented, making the seat hard going for Labour in the past.
Alan B'stard, the star of the TV comedy The New Statesman was MP for a fictional constituency called Haltemprice. But that Haltemprice was supposed to be in North Yorkshire rather than Humberside and no-one would ever think Mr Davis a likely role model for the corrupt Mr B'stard.