1939 Kincardineshire and Western Aberdeenshire by-election

A 1939 parliamentary by-election was held on 30 March 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire.

Vacancy

The Unionist MP for the constituency, Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey was appointed by the Prime Minister as Governor of South Australia, whereupon he resigned from the House of Commons on 8 March.

Electoral history

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;

Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey

General election 1935: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire Electorate 29,528

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	12,477	55.9	−5.7
	Liberal	Arthur Irvine	9,841	44.1	+5.7
Majority			2,636	11.8	−11.4
Turnout			22,318	75.6	−5.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

Candidates

• 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 at Chigwell School, and Wadham College, Oxford. He was a party member in Epping constituency and had made a name for himself in Conservative Party circles as a Neville Chamberlain loyalist who was central to bringing about a censure of Winston Churchill by the Epping Conservative Association. He had no previous links with Scotland.
• The Liberal Party challenger was 30-year-old Arthur Irvine, who had fought this seat at the last election. Irvine was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Oriel College, Oxford, where he was president of the Oxford Union in 1932. He became a barrister in 1935, when he was called by Middle Temple, and became secretary to the Lord Chief Justice in 1935.

Campaign

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

Result

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

1939 Kincardineshire and West Aberdeenshire by-election Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Colin Thornton-Kemsley	11,111	52.7	−3.2
	Liberal	Arthur Irvine	9,990	47.3	+3.2
Majority			121	5.4	−6.4
Turnout			21,101	71.4	−4.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	-3.2

Aftermath

In the 1945 general election, there was a further small swing to the Liberals but Thornton-Kemsley hung on again against a new Liberal challenger;

General election 1945 Electorate 30,901

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Colin Thornton-Kemsley	10,932	51.5	−1.2
	Liberal	John Junor	10,290	48.5	+1.2
Majority			642	3.0	−2.4
Turnout			21,222	68.7	−2.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	-1.2

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.