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The1940 East Renfrewshire by-election was aparliamentary by-election held on 9 May 1940 for theBritish House of Commonsconstituency ofEast Renfrewshire inScotland.
The seat had become vacant when the constituency'sUnionistMember of Parliament (MP), theMarquess of Clydesdale, succeeded to the peerage asDuke of Hamilton.[citation needed] He had been East Renfrewshire's MP since winning the seat at aby-election in 1930.[citation needed]
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During theSecond World War unopposed by-elections were common, since the major parties had agreed not to contest by-elections when vacancies arose in seats held by the other parties; contests occurred only when independent candidates or minor parties chose to stand.
The Unionist candidate in East Renfrewshire,Guy Lloyd, therefore did not face aLabour Party orLiberal candidate. However, theIndependent Labour Party (ILP) did not support the electoral truce, andAnnie Maxton (sister of ILP leaderJames Maxton) stood as an ILP candidate in the by-election.
On a much-reduced turnout, the result was a massive victory for Lloyd, who won 80.7% of the votes.[citation needed] He remained East Renfrewshire's MP until he stepped down at the1959 election.[citation needed]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Douglas Douglas-Hamilton | 35,121 | 55.6 | −3.8 | |
| Labour Co-op | J. Barr | 21,475 | 34.0 | +7.3 | |
| SNP | W.O. Brown | 6,593 | 10.4 | −3.5 | |
| Majority | 13,646 | 21.6 | −11.1 | ||
| Turnout | 63,189 | 75.9 | −4.8 | ||
| Unionisthold | Swing | −6.6 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Guy Lloyd | 34,316 | 80.7 | +25.1 | |
| Ind. Labour Party | Annie Maxton | 8,206 | 19.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 26,110 | 61.4 | +39.8 | ||
| Turnout | 42,522 | 43.4 | −32.5 | ||
| Unionisthold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Guy Lloyd | 42,310 | 53.6 | −2.0 | |
| Labour Co-op | D. McArthur | 36,634 | 46.4 | +12.4 | |
| Majority | 5,676 | 7.2 | −14.4 | ||
| Turnout | 78,944 | 67.2 | −8.7 | ||
| Unionisthold | Swing | ||||