Summary
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.
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Constituency of Christchurch | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 74.2% | ||||||||||||||||||
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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 December 2021[update], the swing of 35.4% remains the sixth-largest by-election swing in British political history (the Bermondsey by-election in 1983 having the largest). It was also the largest swing (35%) against any British government since 1918.[1]
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[2] and David Boothroyd's election results site.[3]
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | 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 | New | |
| Monster Raving Loony | David Sutch | 404 | 0.8 | New | |
| Ind. Conservative | Andrew Bannon | 357 | 0.7 | New | |
| Sack Graham Taylor | Peter Newman | 80 | 0.2 | New | |
| Buy the Daily Sport | Tara Bardot-Jackson | 67 | 0.1 | New | |
| Save the National Health Service | Peter A. Hollyman | 60 | 0.1 | New | |
| Highlander IV Wednesday Promotion | John Crockard | 48 | 0.1 | New | |
| Natural Law | Mark Griffiths | 45 | 0.1 | –0.3 | |
| Ian For King | Mark Belcher | 23 | 0.0 | New | |
| Alfred The Chicken | Karl Fitzhugh | 18 | 0.0 | New | |
| Rainbow Alliance | John Walley | 16 | 0.0 | New | |
| Majority | 16,427 | 30.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 53,350 | 74.2 | -6.5 | ||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +35.4 | |||
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Top Ten Lib Dem 'breakthrough moments'". Epolitix.com. 24 April 2010. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ YouTube video
- ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1992-97 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
External links edit
- British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-election