1993 Christchurch by-election

Diana Maddock won Christchurch for the Liberal Democrats on July 29, 1993, with 62.2% of the vote after the death of Conservative MP Robert Adley. The swing of about 35% was the largest against any British government since 1918. It arrived little more than a year after John Major's surprise general election win and showed how quickly that recovery had drained away. The Conservatives won Christchurch back in 1997, but the Liberal Democrats took a string of other safe Conservative seats in the south of England that year.