 In 1929, there had been both a Liberal and an independent candidate in Gateshead, but the by-election was a two-way contest between Labour and Conservative.The result was a narrow victory for Evans.His 51.6% share of the votes was only a small fall from his predecessor's result in 1929, but Headlam picked up the votes which had previously gone to Liberal and independent candidates, and cut the Labour majority from a safe 31.1% to a precarious 3.2%.