1994 Eastleigh by-election

1994 Eastleigh by-election

←  1992 9 June 1994 1997  →
Turnout	58.7% ( 24.2%)
First party Second party Third party   Lab Con Candidate David Chidgey Marilyn Birks Stephen Reid Party Liberal Democrats Labour Conservative Popular vote 24,473 15,234 13,675 Percentage 44.3% 27.6% 24.7% Swing 16.3% 6.8% 26.5%
MP before election Stephen Milligan Conservative Elected MP David Chidgey Liberal Democrats

The 1994 Eastleigh by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 9 June 1994 for the United Kingdom House of Commons constituency of Eastleigh in Hampshire. The seat had fallen vacant because of the death of Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Stephen Milligan on 7 February. ^[1]

The result of the election was a gain for the Liberal Democrats on a large swing. A disastrous result for the Conservative Party saw them fall to third place. ^[2] The election, along with the EU elections and three other by-elections held that day, were the first election that the newly formed UK Independence Party (UKIP) stood in, with Nigel Farage as the candidate; Farage went on to become the leader of UKIP in 2006. He would later win election to the constituency of Clacton in Essex in 2024 as leader of Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party.

Results

Eastleigh by-election, 1994 ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Chidgey	24,473	44.3	+16.3
	Labour	Marilyn Birks	15,234	27.6	+6.8
	Conservative	Stephen Reid	13,675	24.7	−26.5
	UKIP	Nigel Farage	952	1.7	New
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	783	1.4	New
	Natural Law	Peter Warburton	145	0.3	New
Majority			9,239	16.7	N/A
Turnout			55,262	58.7	−24.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	−16.8

Previous results

General election 1992: Eastleigh ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Milligan	38,998	51.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Chidgey	21,296	28.0
	Labour	Jo Sugrue	15,768	20.7
Majority			17,702	23.3
Turnout			76,062	82.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• 2013 Eastleigh by-election
• Eastleigh constituency
• The town of Eastleigh

References

1. The Independent | Lib Dems win over disenchanted Tories: Conservative defections in Eastleigh are unlikely to benefit Labour's high-profile campaign.
2. Guardian | Eastleigh election results
3. 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

• Campaign literature from the by-election