The seat had become vacant on the elevation to the peerage of the constituency's UnionistMember of Parliament (MP), F. E. Smith, as Baron Birkenhead. He had been raised to the peerage to take up the post of Lord Chancellor, an action described by the left wing Morning Post as "carrying a joke too far".
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN0-900178-06-X.