Defence. His last contribution in Parliament was in a debate on the Energy Conservation Bill on 4 February 1994. Death Milligan was found dead in his house at 64 Black Lion Lane, Hammersmith, London, by his secretary Vera Taggart on 7 February 1994. Milligan had failed to appear in the House of Commons as expected, and so Taggart went to look for him. Milligan's corpse was found naked except for a pair of stockings and suspenders, with an electrical flex tied around his neck, his head covered and an orange in his mouth. The coroner concluded that he had died in the early hours of 7 February. The pathology report into Milligan's death discounted the possibility of murder, lending weight to the belief that he died as a result of suicide or, more likely, died accidentally from autoerotic asphyxiation. No drugs or alcohol were found in his blood, and no substances were found to have contributed to his death. It was ruled a death by misadventure. Aftermath Milligan's death was one of the scandals which contributed to the collapse of John Major's "Back to Basics" policy initiative, which was seen as emphasizing socially conservative values. In an interview after Milligan's death, likely under the presumption it was a suicide, Major said that Milligan "must have been pretty unhappy, pretty miserable". This characterisation was criticised by Milligan's cousin, Judge Tim Milligan, who wrote that "with respect to the Prime Minister, Stephen was neither miserable or unhappy. On the contrary, he was thoroughly fulfilled and happy in his work in Westminster and his Eastleigh constituency, which gave him the chance to be of service to others as he always wished." Milligan left an estate worth , leaving to Oxfam and to St Peter's Church, Hammersmith. His death triggered a by-election for his Eastleigh seat, which was held on 9 June. The by-election was won by the Liberal Democrat candidate David Chidgey, who would hold the seat until the 2005 general election. The Conservative candidate, Stephen Allison, came third in the by-election. Following Milligan's death, Hat Trick Productions, the producers of the BBC's satirical television programme Have I Got News For You, sent black bin bags, oranges and black stockings to journalists to publicise a new series of the show. The BBC subsequently apologised to Milligan's parents for the incident. References External links Independent news report from newsmedianews.com 1948 births 1994 deaths 20th-century