The by-election was caused by the death on 3 July 1910 of Charles McArthur, Kirkdale's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP).
[2] By 5 July, rumours were circulating in Liverpool that the Conservative candidate would be Alderman Barran, but The Times newspaper reported that these were unfounded.
The Times reported that while both groups deplored the passionate religious sectarianism which was rife in the poorer areas of the constituency, Kyffin-Taylor had made a strident Protestantism a main plank of his campaign.
[11] His speech was followed by an address from Alderman Salvidge, who denounced The Times special correspondent for preferring to have a socialist sitting in the Commons, and complained that other leading Conservative journalists had also tried to discredit Kyffin-Taylor's campaign.
During the First World War, he was appointed to command the Artillery of the West Lancashire Division in January 1915 as a temporary colonel,[12] and he resigned from the Commons in February 1915[13] due to his military commitments.