The 1923 Belfast West by-election was held on 2 May 1923, following the assassination of William Twaddell, the sitting MP.
Woods campaigned on a platform of ultra-loyalism and working-class grievances, and expressed the discontent in the Royal Ulster Constabulary and their part-time reserve, the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC), over security policy.
He objected to the appointment of English officers, the dismissal of District Inspector John William Nixon in February 1924 as a result of the McMahon killings, and in March 1924 reductions to the USC.
His loss can, in large part, be attributed to the abolition of proportional representation in February 1929, its replacement with a first-past-the-post system and the establishment of new electoral constituencies which divided his support base.
Lacking a party machine, he also lost the Westminster election in Belfast South held eight days later.