1939 South Ayrshire by-election

The 1939 South Ayrshire by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in the United Kingdom on 20 April 1939 for the House of Commons constituency of South Ayrshire in Scotland.

Previous result

General election, 14 November 1935

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
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Result

The Labour Party held the seat.

By-election 1939: Ayrshire South

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
	Labour hold		Swing

Aftermath

In the 1945 general election, the result was:

General election, 5 July 1945

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
	Labour hold		Swing

References

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)