Christchurch by-election, 1993

A by-election was held in the British House of Commons constituency of Christchurch on 29 July 1993 following the death of sitting Conservative MP Robert Adley.

The result was a gain for the Liberal Democrats, notable for the swing necessary to take such a strong Conservative seat, gaining more than 60% of the votes cast and winning practically twice as many votes as the Conservatives. As of May 2012, the swing of 35.4% remains the fifth largest by-election swing in British political history (the Bermondsey by-election in 1983 being the largest).

At the time, it was not necessary for candidates in British elections to register party names or ballot paper descriptions. Details on candidates at this election are taken from the official count and David Boothroyd's election results site.

Christchurch by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Diana Maddock	33,164	62.2	+38.6
	Conservative	Robert Hayward	16,737	31.4	-32.2
	Labour	Nigel Lickley	1,453	2.7	-9.4
	Anti-Federalist League	Alan Sked	878	1.6
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	404	0.8
	Independent Conservative	Andrew Bannon	357	0.7
	Sack Graham Taylor	Peter Newman	80	0.2
	Buy the Daily Sport	Tara Bardot-Jackson	67	0.1
	Save the National Health Service	Peter A. Hollyman	60	0.1
	Highlander IV Wednesday Promotion	John Crockard	48	0.1
	Natural Law	Mark Griffiths	45	0.1	-0.3
	Ian For King	Mark Belcher	23	0.0
	Alfred The Chicken	Karl Fitzhugh	18	0.0
	Rainbow Alliance	John Walley	16	0.0
Majority			16,427	30.8
Turnout				74.2
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	35.4

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)

External links

• British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-election