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1939 South Ayrshire by-election

The 1939 South Ayrshire by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in the United Kingdom on 20 April 1939 to elect a Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of South Ayrshire in Scotland.

Previous MP

The by-election was triggered by the death of incumbent Labour MP James Brown. Brown had served as MP from the 1918 general election to his defeat in the Conservative and Unionist-backed National Government landslide in 1931, before being reelected in the 1935 general election and serving until his death. Brown had been a prominent backbencher, being appointed to the Privy Council in 1930 and thrice serving as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1924, 1930 and 1931. He was formerly a miner and one-time Secretary of both the Ayrshire Miners' Union and its Scotland-wide affiliate, the National Union of Scottish Mineworkers.

Previous result

General election, 14 November 1935
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Brown 18,190 57.61
Unionist James MacAndrew 13,396 42.39
Majority 4,804 15.22 N/A
Turnout 31,576 78.03
Labour gain from Unionist Swing

Candidates

The Labour Party candidate was Alexander Sloan, known as Sandy Sloan. Like James Brown, he was a local miner and had been Secretary of both the Ayrshire Miners' Union and the National Union of Scottish Mineworkers.

Result

The Labour Party held the seat.

By-election 1939: Ayrshire South[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alexander Sloan 17,908 57.97 +0.36
Unionist Catherine Gavin 12,986 42.03 −0.36
Majority 4,922 15.94 +0.72
Turnout 30,894
Labour hold Swing

Aftermath

In the 1945 general election, the result was:

General election, 5 July 1945
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alexander Sloan 21,235 61.3 +3.7
Unionist Robert Mathew 13,382 38.7 −3.7
Majority 7,853 22.6 +7.5
Turnout 34,617 75.2 −2.8
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)