The1939 South Ayrshire by-election was aparliamentary by-election held in theUnited Kingdom on 20 April 1939 to elect aMember of Parliament (MP) for theHouse of Commonsconstituency ofSouth Ayrshire inScotland.
The by-election was triggered by the death of incumbentLabour MPJames Brown. Brown had served as MP from the1918 general election to his defeat in theConservative and Unionist-backedNational Government landslide in1931, before being reelected in the1935 general election and serving until his death. Brown had been a prominent backbencher, being appointed to thePrivy Council in 1930 and thrice serving asLord 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 theAyrshire Miners' Union and its Scotland-wide affiliate, theNational Union of Scottish Mineworkers.
| 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 | |||
| Labourgain fromUnionist | Swing | ||||
The Labour Party candidate wasAlexander 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.
The Labour Party held the seat.
| 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 | ||||
| Labourhold | Swing | ||||
In the1945 general election, the result was:
| 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 | ||
| Labourhold | Swing | ||||