The East Renfrewshire by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election held on 9 May 1940 for the British House of Commons constituency of East Renfrewshire in Scotland.
Contents
Previous MP
The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), The Marquess of Cydesdale, had succeeded to the peerage as Duke of Hamilton. He had been East Renfrewshire's MP since winning the seat at a by-election in 1930.
Candidates
During World War II, unopposed by-elections were common, since the major parties had agreed not to contest by-elections when vacancies arose in seats held by the other parties; contests occurred only when independent candidates or minor parties chose to stand.
The Unionist candidate in East Renfrewshire, Guy Lloyd, therefore did not face a Labour Party or Liberal candidate. However, the Independent Labour Party (ILP) did not support the electoral pact, and Annie Maxton (sister of ILP leader James Maxton) stood as an ILP candidate in the by-election.
Results
On a much-reduced turnout, the result was a massive victory for Lloyd, who won 80.7% of the votes. He remained East Renfrewshire's MP until he stepped down at the 1959 election.