The by-election was held on 6 May 1993, and was won by David Rendel of the Liberal Democrats with a large swing of 28.4%, and well over twice as many votes as the Conservative candidate.

All candidates needed since 1985 to win at least 5% of the total votes to retain their deposit, which they must pay to stand for election.

Every candidate apart from David Rendel and Julian Davidson lost their deposit, including Labour's Steve Billcliffe.

Rendel served as MP until the 2005 general election, when he was defeated by the Conservative candidate Richard Benyon.

The loss of Newbury marked the beginning of a disastrous run of by-election defeats for John Major's Conservatives, as they went on to lose a further seven contests in seats they had held prior to the next general election in 1997.