 He stood in four by-elections, most notably in Hornsey; however, he was unable to win a seat in parliament at any of them.Billing died on 11 November 1948 at the age of 67.Novelist Pat Barker's award-winning World War I trilogy – "Regeneration", "The Eye in the Door" and "The Ghost Road" – was set against the backdrop of Billing's libel case, with several characters mentioning his ominous black book.