George Morrison National Liberal John Boyd Orr Independent

The seat had become vacant on 6 March 1945 when the National Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) George Morrison had resigned by the procedural device of accepting the post of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, a notional 'office of profit under the crown' which is used as a procedural device to enable MPs to resign from the Commons.

The Rector of the University of Glasgow, Sir John Boyd Orr, stood as an independent.

The result was a victory for Boyd Orr, who won over 70% of the votes.

He held the seat until 1946, when he resigned to take up the post of Director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.