1911 Kilmarnock Burghs by-election

Adam Rolland Rainy had been Liberal MP for Kilmarnock Burghs since gaining the seat from the Conservatives in 1906. He died on 26 August 1911 at the youthful age of 49, causing the by-election.

Dr Rainy's Liberal victory in 1906 coincided with the landslide win for his party across the UK. However, when the Liberals lost ground in January 1910, Rainy managed to increase his majority. That comfortable win was confirmed 11 months later;

Dr Adam Rainy

JD Rees

• Twenty-six-year-old William Glynne Charles Gladstone was chosen as the new Liberal candidate. He was a grandson of the former Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone and the son of former Liberal MP, William Henry Gladstone. In 1909, Gladstone was the Assistant Private Secretary to John Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen who was serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.[2] In early 1911, he served for a few months at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. as an Honorary Attaché.[2][3] This was his first election as a candidate.
• The Conservatives chose a new candidate in 57-year-old Sir John David Rees. He was a former colonial administrator in India. He was a former Liberal MP for Montgomery Boroughs until December 1910 when he did not defend his seat. He crossed the floor before the dissolution of parliament November 1910.[4]
• A Labour party candidate, in the form of 29-year-old Thomas McKerrell appeared for the first time. At the last election, he had contested Liverpool Kirkdale. He sat on the executives of the Scottish and British Miners unions.[5] And he was supported by Scottish suffragettes, like Muriel Scott.[6] He had been a Kilmarnock magistrate. He was the organiser of the Ayrshire Miners Union.[7] He was a member of Kilmarnock Town Council.

Rees was to get elected at the 1912 Nottingham East by-election. A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election.

• Liberal: Will Gladstone
• Unionist:
• Labour:

Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place. In 1915 while serving in France, Gladstone was Killed in action. This resulted in the 1915 Kilmarnock Burghs by-election in which the Liberal Alexander Shaw was returned unopposed. McKerrell did not stand for parliament again.