The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), Alexander Munro MacRobert, had died on 18 October 1930, aged 57.
He had been East Renfrewshire's MP since winning the seat from Labour at the 1924 general election.
The Liberal Party did not field a candidate; it had last contested the seat in 1923, finishing a poor third.
On a slightly-reduced turnout, the result was a victory for The Marquess of Clydesdale, who won 54% of the votes.
He was re-elected at the next two general elections, remaining East Renfrewshire's MP until he succeeded to the Dukedom in 1940, triggering another by-election.