The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Labour MP, William Mackinder on 8 September 1930.
The result at the last General election was The constituency Labour party selected as their candidate to defend the seat William Albert Robinson from Liverpool.
The Communist party decided to intervene in the election and fielded 49-year-old Willie Gallacher from Scotland.
Polling day was set for 6 November 1930, nearly two months after the death of the previous MP, allowing for an unusually long campaign.
He stood instead as an Independent Conservative, but lost his seat, finishing last of 4 candidates with only 13.5% of the votes.