Newbury by-election, 1993

The Newbury by-election, in West Berkshire, England, was held on 6 May 1993 after Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Judith Chaplin died, after only being elected the previous year. It was won by David Rendel of the Liberal Democrats with an impressive swing of 28.4%, and well over twice as many votes as the Conservative candidate. However, as with other by-elections, turnout was lower than at the general election at 71.3%.

The by-election in Newbury was the first by-election of the 1992–1997 parliament, and the first in a string of by-election losses for the Conservative Party who were in their fourth consecutive term of office. Up until 1993 the Newbury seat had been held by a Conservative MP since 1924. In the 2005 general election, however, the constituency returned to the Conservatives with the defeat of David Rendel and the election of Richard Benyon.

Many independent candidates, or candidates from newly formed or minor parties stood in the by-election, with three candidates standing on an anti-Maastricht Treaty platform. Andrew Bannon, a Labour member from Slough stood as a Conservative Candidate in protest at a Conservative member standing as a Labour Candidate in the 1992 general election in Slough.

All candidates must win at least 5% of the total votes to retain their deposit, which they must pay to stand for election. Therefore, every candidate apart from David Rendel and Julian Davidson lost their deposit, including Labour's Steve Billcliffe.

...
Wikipedia