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The1929 Kilmarnock by-election was aby-election held on 27 September 1929 for theBritish House of Commonsconstituency ofKilmarnock inAyrshire.
The first Scottish by-election since thegeneral election in May 1929, it was won by theLabour Party candidateCraigie Aitchison.
The seat had become vacant when the sittingLabourMember of Parliament (MP),Robert Climie had died at the age of 61 on 3 October 1929. He had held the seat since thegeneral election in May 1929, having previously been Kilmarnock's MP from1923 until his defeat in the1924 general election.
TheLabour Party candidate was 47-year-oldCraigie Aitchison KC, who had been theLord Advocate of Scotland since June 1929. He had stood as aLiberal Party candidate inClackmannan and East Stirlingshire at the1922 and1923 general elections. He had contested the1924 general election as a Labour candidate inThe Hartlepools, and in May 1929 came within a small margin of winning the Unionist-heldGlasgow Central seat.
TheUnionist candidate was 41-year-oldCharles MacAndrew, who had won the seat from Climie in 1924, but lost it again in May 1929.
The third candidate wasIsabel Brown, of theCommunist Party of Great Britain. The Liberals, who had finished third at the general election, did not field a candidate.
The result was a victory for the Labour candidate, Craigie Aitchison, who held the seat with an increased share of the vote. However, his majority was lower than Climie's, the Unionists having benefited from the absence of a Liberal candidate.
Aitchison was re-elected at the1931 general election as aNational Labour candidate, having sided with Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald when the Labour Party split and MacDonald formed aNational Government with theConservative Party. Heresigned his seat in 1933, when he was appointedLord Justice Clerk.
MacAndrew returned to theHouse of Commons in1931 as MP forGlasgow Partick.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Craigie Aitchison | 18,465 | 55.6 | +7.4 | |
| Unionist | Charles MacAndrew | 13,270 | 40.0 | +9.6 | |
| Communist | Isabel Brown | 1,448 | 4.4 | New | |
| Majority | 5,195 | 15.6 | −2.2 | ||
| Turnout | 33,183 | 71.7 | −6.1 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | -1.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Robert Climie | 17,368 | 48.2 | +0.4 | |
| Unionist | Charles MacAndrew | 10,939 | 30.4 | −21.8 | |
| Liberal | J. R. Rutherford | 7,700 | 21.4 | New | |
| Majority | 6,429 | 17.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 36,007 | 77.8 | −1.7 | ||
| Labourgain fromUnionist | Swing | +11.2 | |||