[5] He fought with the White Russian commanders Anton Ivanovich Denikin and Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel[4] and during his time in Russia, he became the youngest First-Class Warrant Officer in the British Army.

[4] During the Second World War, McKeag attained the rank of Major in the infantry[5] and was Deputy Assistant Adjutant General.

The crisis in the economy over the summer of 1931 which brought about the National Government of prime minister Ramsay MacDonald meant that McKeag fought the general election in October as a Liberal in support of the National Government, enabling him to take advantage of the public support for the coalition and win the seat by the narrow majority of 270 votes.

[9] Durham went solidly Labour with the party winning every seat in the county, including the Seaham constituency represented by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald.

[4] McKeag still retained ambitions to return to Parliament as a Liberal but during the Second World War there was a truce between the main political parties which ensured that they did not oppose each other when by-elections occurred.

In 1940 however the seat of Newcastle upon Tyne North became vacant on the retirement of Sir Nicholas Grattan-Doyle, the sitting Conservative MP.

[10] In the event, McKeag did not stand, perhaps because like a large number of electors he found it distasteful to fight an election when the British Expeditionary Force was struggling to get home from the beaches of Dunkirk,[11] perhaps because he did not wish his political career to interfere with his own war service.

[13] In the event, the unofficial Conservatives chose not to contest the election, which Elliott won comfortably with a majority of more than 6,000 votes.

[14] McKeag held a long list of public offices as a result of his professional and political associations with Newcastle, County Durham and the North East of England.