1927 Combined Scottish Universities by-election

1927 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
Constituency of Combined Scottish Universities
Turnout	55.1%
MP before election; Sir Henry Craik, Bt.; Unionist	Subsequent MP ; John Buchan; Unionist

The 1927 Combined Scottish Universities by-election was a by-election held from 26 to 29 April 1927 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant on 16 March 1927 when the Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Henry Craik, Bt. had died, aged 80. He had held the seat since its creation for the 1918 general election, having previously been MP for Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities.

Candidates

Two candidates contested the by-election. John Buchan, the novelist, of the Unionist Party and Hugh Guthrie of the Labour Party, who had contested Glasgow Camlachie at the 1918 general election.

Result

The result was a victory for Buchan, who won nearly 88% of the votes. He held the seat until 1935, when he resigned to take up the post of Governor General of Canada.

Votes

Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 26-29 April 1927
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Buchan	16,963	87.7	+66.2
	Labour	Hugh Guthrie	2,378	12.3	+3.0
Majority			14,585	75.4	+63.2
Turnout			19,341	55.1	0.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

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