1930 East Renfrewshire by-election

The 1930 East Renfrewshire by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 28 November 1930 for the British House of Commons constituency of East Renfrewshire in Scotland.

Previous MP

The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), Alexander Munro MacRobert, had died on 18 October 1930, aged 57. He had been East Renfrewshire's MP since winning the seat from Labour at the 1924 general election.

Candidates

The Unionist candidate was The Marquess of Clydesdale, eldest son of the 13th Duke of Hamilton.

The Independent Labour Party candidate was Thomas Irwin, and Oliver Brown stood for the National Party of Scotland.

The Liberal Party did not field a candidate; it had last contested the seat in 1923, finishing a poor third.

Results

On a slightly-reduced turnout, the result was a victory for The Marquess of Clydesdale, who won 54% of the votes. He was re-elected at the next two general elections, remaining East Renfrewshire's MP until he succeeded to the Dukedom in 1940, triggering another by-election.

Votes

East Renfrewshire by-election, 28 November 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Douglas-Hamilton	19,753	53.6	+1.4
	Ind. Labour Party	Thomas Irwin	12,293	33.3	New
	National (Scotland)	Oliver Brown	4,818	13.1	New
Majority			7,460	20.3	+15.9
Turnout			36,864	69.0	-8.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election, 1929: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Munro MacRobert	18,487	52.2	+0.2
	Labour	J. M. Munro	16,924	47.8	−0.2
Majority			13,646	4.4	+0.4
Turnout			63,189	77.8	+2.6
	Unionist hold		Swing

See also

• East Renfrewshire constituency
• East Renfrewshire
• 1926 East Renfrewshire by-election
• 1940 East Renfrewshire by-election
• List of United Kingdom by-elections (1918–1931)

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs