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Murdoch McKenzie Wood
Scottish politician

Murdoch McKenzie Wood

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Intro
Scottish politician
Work field
Gender
Male
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Major Sir Murdoch McKenzie Wood OBE, DL (1881 – 11 October 1949) was a Scottish Liberal politician.

Background

He was the second son of James Wood of Cullen, Banffshire. He was educated at Edinburgh University. He was awarded the OBE in 1919. In 1924 he married Muriel Davis. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for Banffshire and was knighted in 1932.

Professional career

He received a call to the bar by Gray's Inn in 1910. He was on the editorial staff of the Daily Mail. In World War I he served with the Gordon Highlanders and was severely wounded. He later served with the administrative staff of the Royal Air Force.

Political career

He was the unsuccessful Liberal Party parliamentary candidate for the Unionist seat of Ayr Burghs in 1918 where the intervention of a Labour Party candidate prevented what would otherwise have been a rare gain for the Liberals;

General Election 1918: Ayr Burghs Electorate 31,379
PartyCandidateVotes%±
UnionistSir George Younger9,56549.1
LiberalMaj. Murdoch McKenzie Wood5,41027.7
LabourCampbell Stephen4,53423.2n/a
Turnout62.2
Majority4,15521.4
Unionist holdSwing

He entered Parliament as Liberal MP for Aberdeenshire Central at a by-election in April 1919. This was a notable gain for the opposition Liberals against a Unionist candidate supported by the Coalition Government;

Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central by-election, 1919 Electorate 26,315
PartyCandidateVotes%±
LiberalMurdoch McKenzie Wood4,95037.5−9.9
UnionistLeybourne Francis Watson Davidson4,76436.1-16.5
LabourJoseph Forbes Duncan3,48226.4+26.4
Majority1861.46.6
Turnout50.1
Liberal gain from UnionistSwing+3.3

He was comfortably re-elected at the following general election;

General Election 1922: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central Electorate 28,573
PartyCandidateVotes%±
LiberalMurdoch McKenzie Wood9,77960.1+22.6
UnionistRobert Workman Smith6,48139.9+3.8
Majority3,29820.2+13.6
Turnout16,26056.9
Liberal holdSwing+6.8

Following re-union between Asquith and Lloyd George, he was comfortably re-elected at the next election;

General Election 1923: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central Electorate 28,329
PartyCandidateVotes%±
LiberalMurdoch McKenzie Wood9,81853.6
UnionistRobert Workman Smith8,50746.4
Majority1,3117.2
Turnout64.7
Liberal holdSwing

He served as the Scottish Liberal Whip from 1923–1924. At the following general election, a Labour candidate intervened and split the anti-Unionist vote, which cost him his seat;

General Election 1924: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central Electorate 28,658
PartyCandidateVotes%±
UnionistSir Robert Workman Smith9,13044.4-2.0
LiberalMurdoch McKenzie Wood7,63937.2
LabourJ. Newman3,79118.4
Majority1,4917.2
Turnout71.7+7.0
Unionist gain from LiberalSwing

He switched to contest Banffshire for the United Kingdom general election, 1929. He comfortably re-gained a seat the Liberals had lost in 1924;

General Election 1929: Banffshire Electorate 32,868
PartyCandidateVotes%±
LiberalMurdoch McKenzie Wood9,27844.3
UnionistWilliam Paterson Templeton6,72032.0
LabourAlasdair Alpin MacGregor4,98223.7
Turnout63.8
Majority2,55812.3
Liberal gain from UnionistSwing

In 1931, following the formation of the National Government, he was returned unopposed at the general election as a supporter of the new administration. He was an unpaid Assistant Government Whip from 1931–1932. When the Liberal party left the National Government he continued in the role of Scottish Liberal Whip from 1932–1934. In 1935 he was defeated at Banffshire;

General Election 1935: Banffshire Electorate 32,518
PartyCandidateVotes%±
UnionistSir John Edmund Ritchie Findlay11,77151.3n/a
LiberalSir Murdoch McKenzie Wood11,16848.7n/a
Turnout70.5n/a
Majority6032.6n/a
Unionist gain from LiberalSwingn/a

He did not stand for parliament again.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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