Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1935

The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1935 was a by-election held from 17 June to 22 June 1935 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the sitting Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), John Buchan had resigned his seat when he was appointed as Governor General of Canada. He had held the seat since a by-election in April 1927.

Candidates

The Unionist candidate was 55-year-old John Graham Kerr, Regius Professor of Zoology at the University of Glasgow. The Labour Party candidate was the novelist and poet Naomi Mitchison. There was no Liberal Party candidate.

Neither Kerr nor Mitchison had previously contested a parliamentary election.

Result

The result was a victory for the Unionist candidate, Prof. Kerr, who won over 80% of the votes. He resigned his university chair, held the seat until the university constituencies were abolished for the 1950 general election.

Votes

Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 17-22 June 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Prof. John Graham Kerr	20,507	82.7	N/A
	Labour	Naomi Mitchison	4,293	17.3	N/A
Majority			16,214	65.4	N/A
Turnout			24,800	48.1	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election, October 1931: Combined Scottish Universities
	Candidate	Votes
Unionist	John Buchan	unopposed
Liberal	Dugald McCoig Cowan	unopposed
Unionist	Archibald Noel Skelton	unopposed

Sources

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

« 35th Parliament « By-elections to the 36th Parliament of the United Kingdom » 37th Parliament »

1932	February: Croydon South New Forest and Christchurch Henley March: Dunbartonshire April: Richmond-upon-Thames Wakefield Eastbourne St Marylebone June: Dulwich Montrose Burghs July: Westminster Abbey North Cornwall Wednesbury September: Twickenham Cardiganshire

1933	January Liverpool Exchange February: East Fife Rotherham March: Ashford Rhondda East May: Normanton June: Hitchin Altrincham September: Clay Cross October: Fulham East November: Kilmarnock Skipton Manchester Rusholme Rutland and Stamford Harborough December: Wentworth

1934	February: Cambridge Lowestoft Portsmouth North March: Combined Scottish Universities April: Basingstoke Hammersmith North May:West Ham Upton Hemsworth June: Merthyr Monmouth Twickenham Weston-super-Mare Fermanagh and Tyrone July: Rushcliffe October: Lambeth North Swindon November: Putney

1935	February: Liverpool Wavertree Cambridge University March: Norwood Eastbourne April: Perth May: Edinburgh West Tamworth Aberdeen South June: Combined Scottish Universities City of London July: Liverpool West Derby Liverpool West Toxteth Sevenoaks September: Dumfriesshire

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