A1939 parliamentaryby-election was held on 30 March 1939 for theBritish House of Commonsconstituency ofKincardine and Western Aberdeenshire.

The Unionist MP for the constituency,Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey was appointed by the Prime Minister asGovernor of South Australia, whereupon heresigned from the House of Commons on 8 March.^[1]

The seat was created in 1918 and thereafter became a Unionist/Liberal marginal. The Labour Party had never fielded a candidate. Barclay-Harvey gained it from the Liberals in 1923, lost it to the Liberals in 1929 and won it back again in 1931. The seat was held at the last election with a reduced majority;

• Thirty-six-year-old Colin Thornton-Kemsley was chosen as the Unionist candidate to defend the seat. He was the Honorary Treasurer of Essex and Middlesex Provincial Area, National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. He was educated atChigwell School, andWadham College, Oxford. He was a party member in Epping constituency and had made a name for himself in Conservative Party circles as aNeville Chamberlain loyalist who was central to bringing about a censure ofWinston Churchill by the Epping Conservative Association. He had no previous links with Scotland.
• The Liberal Party challenger was 30-year-oldArthur Irvine, who had fought this seat at the last election. Irvine was educated atEdinburgh Academy andOriel College, Oxford, where he was president of theOxford Union in 1932. He became abarrister in 1935, when he wascalled byMiddle Temple, and became secretary to theLord Chief Justice in 1935.

According to the return of election expenses, the Unionists spent £835 10s 7d on their campaign and the Liberals £652 5s 8d.^[4]

Thornton-Kemsley held the seat with a further reduced majority.

In the1945 general election, there was a further small swing to the Liberals but Thornton-Kemsley hung on again against a new Liberal challenger;

Irvine left the Liberal Party and joined the Labour Party, being defeated in 1945 at Twickenham. Junor became a well-known journalist, and after standing for the Liberals on a further two occasions he left the party and quickly gravitated towards the reactionary right wing of the Conservative Party.^[6]

• 1939 elections in the United Kingdom
• 1939 in Scotland
• 1930s elections in Scotland
• By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies
• Politics of Aberdeenshire
• History of Aberdeenshire
• 20th century in Aberdeenshire
• March 1930 in the United Kingdom

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