1946 Kilmarnock by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2025 November 2013 The 1946 Kilmarnock by-election was a by-election held on 5 December 1946 for the House of Commons constituency of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire. Vacancy The seat had become vacant on 2 October 1946 when the Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Clarice Shaw had resigned her seat. She died on 27 October at the age of 63. Shaw had held the seat since the general election in July 1945, but ill-health had prevented her from ever attending the House of Commons. Candidates The Labour Party candidate was 35-year-old Willie Ross, a schoolteacher before World War II who was recently demobilised from the British Army, where he had risen to the rank of Major. At the 1945 general election he had unsuccessfully contested the Ayr Burghs constituency. The Unionist candidate was Lieutenant-Colonel George E. O. Walker, who had also been the Unionist candidate at the general election. The Scottish National Party fielded George Dott. Result The result was a victory for Ross, who held the seat with a fractionally increased share of the vote. He held the seat until he stepped down at the 1979 general election, having been Secretary of State for Scotland for two periods totalling 8 years. Votes Kilmarnock by-election, 5 December 1946http://www.by-elections.co.uk/46.html https://web.archive.org/web/20131105224145/http://www.by-elections.co.uk/46.html 1946 By Election Results 2013-11-05 dead 2015-08-12 Labour Party (UK) Willie Ross 22,456 59.7 +0.3 Unionist Party (Scotland) George E. O. Walker 12,239 32.5 −8.1 Scottish National Party George Dott 2,932 7.8 New 10,217 27.2 +8.4 37,627 68.4 −7.7 Labour Party (UK) +4.2 Previous election General election, July 1945: Kilmarnock Labour Party (UK) Clarice Shaw 23,837 59.4 +26.0 Unionist Party (Scotland) G. E. O. Walker 16,300 40.6 New 7,537 18.8 N/A 40,137 76.1 −2.7 Labour Party (UK) National Labour Organisation N/A See also Kilmarnock (UK Parliament constituency) Kilmarnock 1929 Kilmarnock by-election 1933 Kilmarnock by-election List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950) Elections in Scotland References Sources Craig F. W. S. F. W. S. Craig British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 1969 3rd 1983 Parliamentary Research Services Chichester 0-900178-06-X March 2012 Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies Kilmarnock by-election Kilmarnock by-election, 1946 Kilmarnock by-election Kilmarnock by-election Category:Politics of Kilmarnock