1911 Kilmarnock Burghs by-election

The Kilmarnock Burghs by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 26 September 1911. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The constituency consisted of five parliamentary burghs: Kilmarnock in the county of Ayr, Dumbarton in the county of Dumbarton, Rutherglen in the county of Lanark and Renfrew and Port Glasgow in the county of Renfrew.

Vacancy

Adam Rolland Rainy had been Liberal MP for Kilmarnock Burghs since gaining the seat from the Conservatives in 1906. He died on 26 August 1911 at the youthful age of 49, causing the by-election.

Electoral history

Dr Rainy's Liberal victory in 1906 coincided with the landslide win for his party across the UK. However, when the Liberals lost ground in January 1910, Rainy managed to increase his majority. That comfortable win was confirmed 11 months later;

Dr Adam Rainy
General election December 1910: Kilmarnock Burghs[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Adam Rolland Rainy 8,657 60.9 -0.2
Conservative James Buyers Black 5,569 39.1 +0.2
Majority 3,088 21.8 -0.4
Turnout 14,226 86.4
Liberal hold Swing -0.2

Candidates
JD Rees
  • Twenty-six-year-old William Glynne Charles Gladstone was chosen as the new Liberal candidate. He was a grandson of the former Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone and the son of former Liberal MP, William Henry Gladstone. In 1909, Gladstone was the Assistant Private Secretary to John Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen who was serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.[2] In early 1911, he served for a few months at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. as an Honorary Attaché.[2][3] This was his first election as a candidate.
  • The Conservatives chose a new candidate in 57-year-old Sir John David Rees. He was a former colonial administrator in India. He was a former Liberal MP for Montgomery Boroughs until December 1910 when he did not defend his seat. He crossed the floor before the dissolution of parliament November 1910.[4]
  • A Labour party candidate, in the form of 29-year-old Thomas McKerrell appeared for the first time. At the last election, he had contested Liverpool Kirkdale. He sat on the executives of the Scottish and British Miners unions.[5] He had been a Kilmarnock magistrate. He was the organiser of the Ayrshire Miners Union.[6] He was a member of Kilmarnock Town Council.

Campaign

Result
WGC Gladstone
Kilmarnock Burghs by-election, 1911[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Will Gladstone 6,923 48.3 -12.6
Conservative John Rees 4,637 32.4 -6.7
Labour Thomas McKerrell 2,761 19.3 n/a
Majority 2,286 15.9 -5.9
Turnout 14,321
Liberal hold Swing -3.0

Aftermath

Rees was to get elected at the 1912 Nottingham East by-election. A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election.

Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place. In 1915 while serving in France, Gladstone was Killed in action. This resulted in the 1915 Kilmarnock Burghs by-election in which the Liberal Alexander Shaw was returned unopposed. McKerrell did not stand for parliament again.

gollark: Is 100 kiloeuros "set for life" money, though?
gollark: But ideally somewhat seriously, as opposed to, what, funnily?
gollark: I mean, I'm considering hypotheticals and stuff here.
gollark: What do you mean "seriously think"?
gollark: If it's multiple people, or they bought an exploit from someone, there's even *less* money available to them.

References
  1. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 by Craig, F.W.S. (1974)
  2. "WILLIAM G. C. GLADSTONE". The Spectator. 28 June 1918. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  3. "W G C Gladstone an MP" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 September 1911. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  4. "Portraits and Personal Notes." Illustrated London News [London, England] 16 September 1911: 434. Illustrated London News. Web. 5 March 2014.
  5. "Speeches on the Crisis." Times [London, England] 4 March 1912: 7. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 5 March 2014.
  6. "Kilmarnock Burghs Election." Times [London, England] 11 September 1911: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 5 March 2014.
  7. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 by Craig, F. W. S. (1974)
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